The Government Can't Do Anything Right, Except When It Does

I love hearing the Teabaggers and other conservatives rail against "big government". To hear them tell it, the government couldn't do anything right, especially deliver health care. It's been fascinating watching the stories come out this week about various Teabagger leaders, all calling for the government to get off my back, being on social security and disability, not to mention medicare and medicaid. Anyways, here is a little story about a girl named Kelly...

In 1969, the government was finally recognizing that smoking cigarettes was not only dangerous to your health, but also to the health of your fetus. Because of this, my Mother didn't smoke or drink while pregnant with me. I was born on January 2, 1970 at Hunter Air Base in Savannah, Georgia. The US military hospital that I was born in was run and funded by the government. The cost of my birth to my parents? One dollar. As a small child, we moved around a lot but the moving expenses were always picked up by the Army. We always lived on post, in military housing, always at a steep discount.

As I grew older, I began to attend public schools where I received an excellent education. Upon graduation from high school, I was accepted to and attended the University of Kentucky, the largest public university in the state. The University was created by the state legislature under a 19th century federal land grant and is partially funded by tax dollars. All of my professors were employees of the state government. While there, my health care was provided by University Health Services. If I got sick, I simply went to the University Clinic.

During my lifetime, I've flown on airplanes more times than I can count. I never once feared for my safety because of my faith in the government air traffic controllers. I also knew that my airplane had to meet very tight safety standards established by the Federal Aviation Administration. When I did fly, I would always drive to the airport on government built and funded roads. Those roads were safe because federal engineers had helped design them. The car I was driving was among the safest in the world because the US government mandates that auto companies build cars to rigid safety standards.

I bought my first home five years ago and received a first time home buyers credit and was financed through the Kentucky Housing Corporation, a government entity. I know that my home is well built because of local building standards enforced by local government. When I turn on my television, I'm pretty sure it won't explode because all appliances have to meet federal regulations. One of my favorite things to do is surf the web. I do that by logging onto an internet that was created by government workers at the Pentagon.

I don't really fear for my safety as it's a pretty safe neighborhood. If trouble were to arise however, I know that the Louisville Police Department, a local government agency, will be there to protect me. I also know that fire is unlikely because all of my furniture is designed to meet strict anti-fire standards set by the government. Still, fires do happen, but the Louisville Fire Department, another public service provider, is located just 2 blocks away.

I am one of those people who is blessed to have found a career that makes me happy. I teach school in a public elementary school. I get paid by the state and that paycheck makes it into my bank, which is federally insured, every two weeks. When I retire, I'll have a state pension to depend on and be eligible for medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly.

When I go on vacation, I love to escape into the woods and do some camping. I almost always choose a National Forest that is managed by and protected by the federal government. When I fill up my car with gasoline to go on vacation, I know that I'm getting exactly as much fuel as the pump says. Why? Because the state monitors all gasoline stations.

When I'm at home, I love to visit the great city parks here in Louisville. All of Metro Parks is run by the local city government. The parks are well maintained, safe (those police again) and a great way to unwind after watching the news on a broadcast wavelength provided to the station by the federal government.

I usually go out to eat a couple nights a week, nothing big, but still a nice treat. I don't worry about getting food sickness, not with the FDA and USDA monitoring food inspection. I also know that the local health department does surprise inspections of all restaurants and ensures that I am eating in a clean and safe environment. The fire marshal tends to visit from time to time make sure the restaurant is built to code and that it isn't violating any safety standards.

The water that gets served with my food is tasty, very tasty. It comes out of the tap and flows from the Ohio River after being treated by the Louisville Water Company, a publicly owned utility. The EPA and Clean Water Act makes sure that the water is safe to drink.

I have some really serious seasonal allergies and as a result, I have to take medicine to keep it under control. The FDA did a lot of testing on that medicine before it could be sold on the market. Also, the EPA has overseen a program to reduce pollution in our cities and as a result, the air is much cleaner than it used to be.

This past winter brought a lot of snow. The city did a great job of plowing that snow and keeping the roads safe for all of us. The potholes that were created this winter are currently being fixed by the city and state. When it was cold, I was able to turn on my furnace to stay warm. The natural gas that heats my house was most likely mined on federal lands that were leased to oil and gas companies. It safely makes it's way to my house because of regulations on how pipelines must be built.

When my time on this planet is up, I can be buried if I so choose. I'll rest easy knowing that it's a crime to desecrate a grave. My family will rest easy knowing that the funeral home and cemetery must do things by the book. The court system will ensure that my estate is turned over to whomever I wish.

So yeah, I guess the Teabaggers are right. The government can't do anything. Except when they do.

The Teabaggers Are Who You Think They Are

During the long debate over health care reform, the "elite"media kept saying that the program wasn't popular with the American people when nothing could be further from the truth. A large chunk of those who told pollsters that they were against the just passed health care reform bill were like me. They were against it because it didn't go far enough by including a single payer or public option. With the teabaggers, the same thing has happened again. The pea brains in the media just can't wrap their little minds around the fact that these people are crazy, are far right Republicans and are not representative of the coveted but very misguided independents.

Myth Number Two from comments: The Tea Party folks are Independent voters and over half of them are women. They voted the Republicans out of power based on the spending and wars issues.

There is a brand new poll out from The New York Times and CBS News and guess what, the teabaggers are exactly who we thought they were: FAR RIGHT REPUBLICANS.

Americans who call themselves "Tea Party members" in this poll:

• Mostly consider themselves Republicans – not independents - and most view the Republican Party favorably (62 percent).

• Are overwhelmingly negative about President Obama personally (80 percent); Americans overall are more favorable.

• Are more likely to think President Obama is working mainly on behalf of the poor, and not the middle class.

• Express nearly three times more anger toward Washington (45 percent) than Americans overall (17 percent).

• Are more likely to believe President Obama has already raised taxes, while most Americans do not.

In addition, the poll found the following...

Americans who identify themselves as Tea Party members are mostly from the South (37 percent) or the West (29 percent), and are older (59 percent say they are over age 45, compared to 50 percent of Americans.)

Tea Party identifiers are overwhelmingly white – 95 percent are white, compared to 77 percent of Americans.

Among those who've heard of the Tea Party movement, only a third thinks it reflects the views of most Americans while 42 percent say it does not.

Overall, 18 percent of Americans considers themselves a "member" of the Tea Party. (This is a self-identification not related to whether they have attended any rallies or events.) Tea Party ranks are dominated by Republicans: one-third of all the Republicans in this poll identify themselves as Tea Party members, as do one in five independents.

Ed Kilgore digs deeper into the poll and what he finds puts to rest any notion of this being a movement that hates both parties equally...

For all the talk of tea partiers being equally hostile to both major parties, 62% of them have a favorable view of the GOP, while only 9% have a favorable view of the Democratic Party. 80% have an unfavorable opinion of President Obama.

Are tea party enthusiasts anti-corporate "populists" who could theoretically be attracted to a more left-bent, populist Democratic Party? Doesn't look like it, since tea partiers are much more likely than Americans as a whole to oppose increased bank regulations, and nearly twice as likely to think Obama is prejudiced in favor of poor folks (not a compliment, given their general hostility to him). They are also much, much less likely to attribute the federal budget deficits they hate so much to the Bush administration. Nearly half of them erroneously believe the Obama administration has already raised taxes (again, not a good thing in their eyes).

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Just to make sure there isn't any confusion here about who these jackasses are, Tea Party darling and former Half Governor of Alaska, why speaking at a rally for John McCain today, said that "Everyone here today supporting John McCain, we are all part of that Tea Party movement." Got that? The woman who gets the teabaggers blood flowing says that all Republicans supporting John McCain are teabaggers.

Next up: They myth that they aren't violent.

The Teabaggers Are The Republican Party and Damn They Are a Bunch of Racist

My last post about the right wing in America touched a real nerve with one of my readers. You can go to the comments section to read all about it but to really respond to this inane argument, I need to go all out and this is the result. Anyone who follows politics knows that America is about as polarized as it has ever been. Left and right are doing battle with the survival of this country hanging in the balance. If the left does not prevail here, well, it is the end of this great experiment begun so many years ago. This is not hyperbole or partisan rhetoric here, it is a battle for the survival of this Republic. If we win, America just might survive, if we lose, it really is over and then the world really goes to shit.

Let's take this one argument at a time here and document how my reader is wrong on every single count We'll tackle the racism argument first and tomorrow I'll post on the violence associated with the movement and the fallacy about who they are and what they stand for (hint: They are the Reublican Party). I'll also dive into the battle over defecits and why they don't matter.

1. You use a broad brush paint a picture of dangerous racism over a a bunch of people who want government waste to end and taxes to stop rising, based on some very isolated, and condemned, statements made by a very small number of people. Shame on you.

The teabagger movement is made up of one race and one race only, older white folks. Scan the crowd at any of these rallies and you will not see a face of color anywhere. Now why is this you ask? Well, because they are as blatantly racist as you can possibly get. This past weekend, teabaggers accosted Democrats on Capitol Hill calling them nigger and faggot. One member was spat on and as a result, security for Democrats has been incresed. Make no mistake about this, the teabaggers are mad because the make believe world that they live in isn't as lilly white as they thought it was. The election of a black man to the Presidency has brought out the true colors...

Embracing the freakshow at Politico
Washington Post documents the racism against Obama
Baltimore Sun editorial about racist teabaggers
Seattle Times editorial about racist teabaggers
Armed and racist teabaggers
John McCain's daughter calls teabaggers racist
Noose images sent to Cyburn







I could go on and on and on and on and on but you get the picture. Racism hangs heavy over everything the teabaggers do.

These are just a few of the signs featured at Tea Party rallies this year and last. For more, go here...

Right Wing America In All It's Glory

Lest there be any doubt, the right wing of America has gone totally off the deep end and entered uncharted territory. Fed red meat by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glen Beck, the frothing mad and seriously deranged teabaggers have now shown their true colors and it is as ugly as I expected.

At a anti-health care rally at the Capitol, protestors hurled racial and homophobic slurs at Democratic members of Congress. Representative John Lewis (D-Georgia), a civil rights hereo, was repeatedly called nigger (lets not sugar coat this by using the less offensive N-word) by unhinged, right wing racist. Representative Emmanuel Cleaver (D-Missouri) was spat upon by others while Representative Barney Frank (D-Massachuesettes) was called homo and faggot, the last slur garnering a round of laughter.



Republican leaders, who had better watch out themselves as these crazies will soon turn on them, were quick to condem but stressed that it wasn't representative of the group as a whole. Bullshit. One look at any of these teabagger rallies tells you all you need to know. They are filled with angry white males, pissed off that America elected a black man as President. The crowds are 100% white, trend older and filled with hateful signs that don't bother to disguise the true hatred of those who like to tea bag. The only thing missing are the white hoods and burning crosses.



Make no mistake about this people, these crazed right wingers are a serious threat to this nation. They will stop at nothing to preserve their image of America. Think for a moment about what it is that they are so up in arms about. They are pissed that Democrats want to ensure health coverage for all Americans. Seriously, why does helping your fellow Americans so upset these people? Imagine if Obama really was the socialist they make him out to be. How long before they actually do break out their guns and start opening fire on anyone with an Obama bumper sticker? How long till one of them tries to kill Obama or other Democrats? At what point do we stop calling them crazed protestors and start calling them what they really are...Terrorist?

My Life Is A Trainwreck

It really is.

One Sick Puppy

For someone who is very good overall health (no major issues), I sure am sickly. I've spent most of the winter with congestion that would impress Atlanta drivers. I've had a bout of the flu, several nasty coughs and now what I can only describe as a brain cloud mixed with a sore throat. I've tried to let it run it's course this week but it just isn't getting any better. So, I'll be staying home from work tomorrow and heading to the doctor.

DeFriended

Wow, Defriended on Facebook by my two best friends from high school. The shitty thing is, I didn't defriend them when they became raving mad conservatives. Seriously though, it does kind of hurt my feelings that my two best friends from that time, people that I would have thought would stand by me, ultimately decided that I was too much of a freak or something like that. Stay classy Rico and Kristen.

Secrets

This weeks collection of postcards on Post Secret feature two trans related secrets. I find the first one rather amusing. I wonder how many women feel this way...



The second secret hits a bit close to home. I've made no secret about sometimes questioning my decision and while it's not that I feel like it was wrong, it's just that after spending all this money on FFS, clothing and everything else, I still look pretty much like I did when I began. In short, it couldn't have gone any worse in that department. Anyways, here it is in all it's glory...

This Too Shall Pass

OK GO, the band behind the greatest music video of all time, have outdone themselves again and topped the infamous treadmill epic. Here it is, in all it's glory...



And here is Here it Goes Again...