Category Archives: Culture

Most Problems With Government Are Local.

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It is said that all politics are local.  The same could be said for government interference.  While Teapublicans rage at the federal government for “over-regulation,” the truth is that most federal regulation is necessary.  As with most everything else, the Tea Party’s anger is misguided.

Without the EPA, our rivers would still be on fire, our drinking water would be filled with chemicals, and the simple act of breathing would life-threatening.  Without the FDA, packaged food companies might still be peddling unsafe meats and food additives.   Without the National Transportation and Safety Department, our cars might still be unsafe at any speed.  And without the FAA, airlines might feel free to cut corners on aircraft maintenance.

I think you’d agree that most federal government regulations are necessary, and they don’t really threaten job creation.

Most federal programs are surprisingly efficient.  Medicare is more cost-efficient than private health insurance.  Social Security spends a small percent of its budget for administrative costs.

It’s much different at the local level where red tape and burdensome regulations abound.  Want to build a manufacturing plant?  You need to wade through city, county and state governments to do that.  Want to open a retail store?  Welcome to the licensing and zoning commission.  Want to rent out the basement of your home?  You need to check zoning laws and buy a license for that.

There’s an old saying that you can’t fight City Hall.  There’s a reason it doesn’t mention Washington.

For more, read The Teapublican Book of Lies available at Amazon.com and other on-line bookstores.

A Few Questions For The NRA.

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Following a series of mass shootings, I’d like to know how members of the National “Rifle” Association feel.  Are they satisfied that military-style assault weapons are now readily available to every disturbed lunatic who has the money to buy them?

Do they feel anything when they see bloody corpses of innocent people lying on the floor of high schools and universities, on the cement in grocery parking lots, on the floor of a theater…even lying on the floor of a church?

Do they feel pride that gun sales peak after each mass shooting?

Do they still want to allow the unrestricted sale of silencers and night vision scopes?  Do they still want even higher-capacity magazines?

Truth is, all NRA members have the blood of innocents on their hands.  Lots of it.  Without NRA-sponsored laws in all 50 states, few people would be packing.  Assault weapons and high capacity magazines would be prohibited.  There would be thorough background checks and mandatory training for gun buyers, even at gun shows.

Without NRA-sponsored laws, fewer people would feel the need to carry guns, fewer lunatics and criminals would own them, and fewer people would live in fear.

For more, read The Teapublican Book of Lies available at Amazon and other on-line bookstores.

“Legitimate” Rape.

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In 2011, Teapublicans introduced a bill that would ban federal funding for abortions through Medicaid except in cases of “forcible” rape, incest, or to save a mother’s life.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri and Rep. Paul Ryan (Yes, that Paul Ryan) with the intent of redefining rape.  You see, Teapublicans believe that “forcible” rape is the only legitimate rape.  Apparently they believe rapes which are the result of threats, physical intimidation, or “date rape” drugs don’t really count. Therefore, in Teapublicans’ feeble minds, those victims should not be allowed to seek an abortion.

The bill was eventually withdrawn after a huge backlash from women voters.

But Akin, Ryan and company haven’t given up on their attempts to redefine rape.  In fact, they want to take their anti-woman, anti-abortion agenda even farther by passing a Constitutional amendment outlawing all abortions.  They also want to redefine “personhood” by passing legislation that says human life begins at conception.  This would give a fetus all the rights of a person, meaning that all abortions would be treated as murder regardless of the circumstances.

The Teapublican plans hadn’t received a lot of attention.  But that changed over the past weekend.

In case you were lounging on another planet, Rep. Akin was asked during a TV interview if he supported abortion in the case of pregnancies caused by rape. He responded, “From what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare.  If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist, and not attacking the child.”

Here’s an idea:

Let’s put Akin, Ryan and all the other Teapublicans who believe in this nonsense in the general population of a maximum security prison.  I’m betting that, within days, these guys will understand the real meaning of rape in all of its many forms.

The only thing lacking would be the joy of them carrying “Bubba’s” baby for the next 9 months and caring for it the rest of their lives.

Maybe Gun Control Advocates Should Follow The Lead Of Abortion Foes.

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Both abortions and gun ownership are guaranteed by the Supreme Court of the United States.  But that hasn’t stopped abortion foes from challenging the law at every opportunity.

It hasn’t stopped them from creating a host of restrictions that have all but ended abortions in several states.  It hasn’t stopped them from creating lengthy waiting periods in order to “educate” patients about the horrors of abortion.

So why not do the same with gun nuts?

We could make a list of the names, addresses and phone numbers of the leaders of the National Rifle Association and pro-gun legislators.  We could write legislation to ban ownership of certain types of weapons.  We could create lengthy waiting periods for gun purchases in order to show prospective buyers the horrors of Columbine, Tucson and Aurora.

We could show them statistics for gun violence.  We could show them photographs of those who were murdered by their own guns.  We could show them cities and neighborhoods that have been destroyed by gun violence.  We could cut off all federal funding and tax loopholes for gun manufacturers.

After all, isn’t gun control also pro-life?

Poorly Disguised Racism.

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Ever since Barack Obama was elected president, conservative white people have decried his lack of patriotism.  They say he is a socialist.  They say he was born in Kenya.  They say he is a Muslim.  They say he does not believe in American values and American exceptionalism.

Considering that his policies reflect those of former President Clinton and, in many cases, former President Bush, one may only conclude that the reason conservatives feel this way is that he is black.

There are other signs of growing racism in politics and the media.

Fox News Channel has recently questioned the patriotism of a US Olympic gold medalist for not wearing a flag-themed uniform during her performances.  (Nevermind that several decades ago it was considered unpatriotic to wear clothing mimicking the American flag.)  And, although few of the US athletes have worn clothing of red, white and blue, only one athlete was singled out…Gabby Douglas, the first African-American to win the all-around in Olympic gymnastics competition.

Coincidence?  I think not.

It’s no more coincidence than the fact that the mass killings in Wisconsin have received relatively little press compared to those in Colorado, Arizona, Texas and West Virginia.  Could that be because the victims in Wisconsin were Sikh immigrants from India and other parts of south Asia?

When Will It Be The Right Time To Talk About Gun Violence?

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In the immediate aftermath of mass shootings, conservative media and the National Rifle Association quickly state, “This is not the time to talk about gun violence.  We need to focus on the victims.”  The NRA also issues a press release reaffirming its stance that guns are not the cause of the shootings.

Within days, the media attention turns to the shooter and what led him to become a mass killer.  Then the public attention is distracted by other more important stories such as the latest celebrity divorce, the latest celebrity arrest or the latest sensational trial.

The debate about senseless gun violence gets lost in the process until the next mass shooting.  Then the process is repeated all over again.

With each shooting, the national outrage is diminished, especially if the victims are not white “innocents.”  (Notice the difference in media coverage in the aftermath of the shootings in Wisconsin compared to the shootings in Colorado, Tucson, Fort Hood, and West Virginia.)

Racism aside, when will we ever have a national conversation about hate speech?  About hate radio?  About the violence that pervades virtually every aspect of our culture?  And most importantly, about the easy availability of increasingly lethal military-style weapons?

There will never be a better time than NOW!

America’s Epidemic Of Head-Up-The-Butt Disease.

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There are many things we know that are detrimental to our society, but for a variety of reasons (mostly political) we refuse to correct them.

For example, we know that it’s dangerous to text while driving, but many do it anyway.  We know that many military contractors have been found guilty of defrauding the government, yet we continue to reward them with multi-billion dollar contracts. We know that abstinence-only programs do not help prevent teen pregnancies, but we cut funding for sex education and easy access to contraceptives.  We also know that early education programs greatly improve a child’s future, yet many are trying to defund them.

Similarly, the world’s scientists have warned us of the dangers of climate change caused by man.  Still, we refuse to address the problems even when experiencing extreme weather.  And we know that mass killings are made possible by unrestricted access to military-style, semi-automatic weapons.

All of these issues could be fixed.  It only takes a will to do so.  Yet we continue to listen to those who profit from these problems. 

We accept the oil industry’s arguments that lessening our dependence on renewable energies will be costly and result in lost jobs.  We accept the absurd notion of “clean” coal being marketed by the coal industry.  And we accept the fear-based arguments of gun manufacturers and the National Rifle Association that “Guns don’t kill people.  People kill people.”  That may be true, but semi-automatic weapons with large-capacity magazines make it much easier.

When’s the last time you read about a mass killing committed by a lunatic carrying a single-shot rifle or a 6-shot revolver?

Of course, the NRA argues that there will be less violence when everyone is armed.  But if you take your head out of your nether regions, you’ll discover the obvious flaws in that argument.  Do you have to carry a weapon with you at all times?  In church?  In school?  In the swimming pool?

So come on, America, stop limiting your view to your inner colons.  Pull your heads out of your butts and start examining the world around you.

Juveniles, Liars and Bullies.

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Do bullies become Republicans? Or vice versa? It’s like the question of the chicken and egg.  There’s no obvious answer.  Bullies and Republicans are synonymous…especially here in Arizona.

Each election season, Republicans seem to have another treat in store for Democrats.  The airwaves and newspapers are filled with even more lies than usual.  (Not just exaggerations or little white lies, but unbelievable whoppers.)  Yard signs for Democratic candidates disappear with regularity, and if Democrats complain, Republicans remove their own signs and blame Democrats.  Last, but not least, Democratic bumper stickers are removed or defaced and sometimes the cars carrying them are vandalized.

It’s the sort of behavior that would make any junior high bully proud…as well as the ghosts of Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon and Spiro “The Felon” Agnew.

The question is why do they do it?  Why do they feel it necessary?  Do they brag about their lies and juvenile accomplishments among themselves?  Do they turn it into a competition?

If elections are a battle of ideas, why do Republicans feel it necessary to resort to tricks, divisiveness and fear?  More important, are these the kind of people you want to represent you?

Don’t answer that.  If you’re a Republican, I already know the answer.

Poll: At Least 17% Of Americans Are Nitwits.

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A new poll conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Life has found that 17 percent of Americans believe President Obama is Muslim.  Of course, that’s not true.  The President is Christian.  Indeed, many of the same people who want to believe he’s Muslim were originally outraged at statements made by his Chicago Christian pastor.

But that’s not the extent of the lunacy on the right. 

According to a Public Policy Polling survey in March of this year, 37 percent of Americans believe the President was not born in the U.S.  Yet another 21 percent are unsure. (They must have forgotten Hawaii achieved statehood in 1959.)

However, given the other wrong-headed beliefs of the right, none of this should come as any real surprise. After all, these are people who reject education and science.  Many think the Earth is just 6,000 years old and that dinosaurs are a myth invented to test the faith of Christians.

These are people who fail to see a connection between the easy availability of military-style assault weapons and mass killings.  The same people who think that giving ever-increasing tax breaks to the filthy rich will somehow help their own financial circumstances.  People who think defaulting on US debts will benefit our economy.

Obviously, they cannot be educated and informed.  They refuse to listen to anyone but their own equally deluded brethern.  Yet their vote counts the same as yours and mine.

Do you still believe in America exceptionalism?

Let’s Help Texas Secede.

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On several occasions, Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested that the Republic of Texas might secede from the United States.  He meant it as a threat, but after first ridiculing the idea, I’ve come to embrace it.

Let’s consider the benefits.

If Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee (Yes, I know this isn’t all of the original Confederacy, but the others have better embraced their statehood.) were allowed to secede, the level of education in the US would improve overnight.  At the same time, the number of impoverished would plummet.  We would also improve the United States’ international rankings with regard to incarceration and capital punishment.

Moreover, the US would dramatically reduce the number of assault rifles and handguns within its borders.  We would rid ourselves of the evangelical crackpots on the Texas school board responsible for rewriting textbooks to whitewash history.  We would improve the percentage of our population with health insurance. And since most of the Tea Party crackpots in Congress come from the former Confederacy, the level of political discourse would likely improve.

I know this plan seems radical, but I think it best.  Many of the former Confederate states have long been openly hostile to the federal government, even threatening to “exercise their 2nd Amendment rights.”  In Arizona, there are legislative bills calling for state sovereignty of national parks and all federal lands.  And many of these states have refused to accept the legitimacy of the Affordable Care Act despite a Supreme Court ruling.

For the states that do secede, they finally could have the theocratic government they seem to so desire.  They could completely ignore science.  They would no longer have to accept the billions in federal money that have been thrust upon them to provide food and medicine for their poor.  And unless they continue their hostility to foreign visitors, they could replace Mexico and Jamaica as warm weather destinations for US tourists.

Of course, the plan is not without downsides.  We would have to move many of our military bases to Union states.  Football could suffer without Texas and Florida athletes, but since we already embrace foreign nationals for basketball and baseball, we could make accommodation for football players.  We would lose much of the domestic oil production and refineries, but all of that oil and gas is sold on world markets, anyway.  And since I live in Arizona, I’d have to sell my home at a loss in order to move back to the US.

Nevertheless, I encourage you to give my plan serious thought.  If you do, I’m confident you’ll see that the many benefits outweigh the negatives.