The tendancy for Americans to immediately throw down the race card really pisses me off! And, again, I place a large portion of the blame squarely on the US news media for continually stirring the pot and fueling the fire.
We're a constantly evolving, progressive society of mixed races and ethnicities so how about we stop playing the race card every time a black person gets injured or killed by someone who has a different skin color. Better yet, how about we do away with the "black" and the "white" labels that we Americans like to try to squeeze everyone into. Slavery was abolished here in 1865. Between 1955 and 1970, there were great strides forward in the advancement of equality for all in this country and, even though racism and bigotry can still be encountered in a percentage of the less-evolved, refined, and educated members of our society, a majority of us get the whole concept of equal rights, tolerance, and understanding. Most of us, anyway.
We need to remain vigilant against those members of our society that subscribe to the notion that any skin color, race, religion, or ethnicity is superior or inferior to any other. To this day we have measures in place (affirmative action) to guard against such notions. And we teach our children about tolerance and equality based on the hard and sometimes horrible lessons that history has taught us. We've come a long way as a nation -and even as a civilization. But here in this country, for as much as everyone is supposedly against racism, it is ALWAYS the first thing that comes up whenever a crime occurs involving different skin colors - especially if it involves a "black" person and a "white" person. Black and white... where the hell did we ever come up with two such incredibly insufficient and misleading terms?! I am neither color -and I can't say that I've ever met a truly white or black person in all my years on this earth. I guess we humans like to label everything so we can place it in a nice neat category... Black, white, yellow, Republican, Democrat, straight, gay, blue collar, white collar, liberal, conservative, progressive. As far as I'm concerned, I don't want any labels attached to me -and I think we'd all be a whole lot better off as a society if we did away with all these labels or at least stopped analyzing everything based on them. "Black people are 35% more likely to..." or "50% of white voters..." - Until we stop using colors and labels to group everyone in our society, we're doomed to keep falling back on the race card that is so easily played whenever something goes wrong in this country.
I get that some folks' ancestors were slaves -and others slave owners- in this country but I had nothing to do with that. I learned all about it in school and determined right away that that was very wrong. Every day I run into people of every size and color that are WAY different than me but I try to at least tolerate them all -even if I don't understand why they are the way they are. It's a challenge sometimes, sure. But I know there's people looking at me with the same puzzled look and I'd hope they'd give me the same equal opportunity to coexist with them.
It all boils down to tolerance and understanding. We have way too little of those two things in our society. Instead, we fall back on fear and accusations. Instead of trying to understand our differences, we fear them and, instead of tolerating each other and our differences, we accuse. We're all so quick to judge and so quick to accuse. It seems we're relying less on common sense, logic, compassion, and understanding as we quickly jump from conclusion to conclusion.
I don't expect us all to share the same opinions or views, but rather than vehemently fight against each other, can we find a way to Compromise? It seems everything has to be black or white, yes or no, this way or that way ... there's never any movement toward a common ground. Instead, we seem to be heading away in the wrong direction. For all our technological advances and claims of highly advanced human intelligence we're still pretty dumb when it comes to being duped by the media and being sucked into this very unproductive "herd mentality".
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Our New Judicial System: THE MEDIA
The news media really pisses me off. And the fact that all of us seem to be content to draw our conclusions based on what we see and hear in the news really -REALLY- pisses me off. It seems we don't really need a criminal justice system any more. Why pay a judge and lawyers to gather facts and argue a case when we can just have a bunch of reporters gather hearsay and dubious facts about a case and twist them into 10-second sensationalized sound bites? Suddenly we all know ALL the facts based on what we've been seeing and hearing the media. Who needs a jury? What do THEY know?! We've got the media to give us unbiased and completely accurate facts. Right?!
People, George Zimmerman was found INNOCENT in a court of law -after a lengthy trial where facts, information, and numerous people's testimony was presented by professionally trained lawyers. Then a meticulously selected group of jurors who were all given specific guidelines and instructions on how to do their job were entrusted to decide -based on all the REAL evidence and ACTUAL testimony that all of us didn't have access to (but we somehow think we did thanks to the media!)- whether Mr. Zimmerman's actions were criminal.
George Zimmerman was found INNOCENT -after all that. Obviously all of Trayvon Martin's family and friends feel that justice was not served. I can understand that. But what about the rest of us?! Why is everyone saying they're going to boycott Florida -that this was a serious miscarriage of justice. How the HELL do YOU know this was a bad verdict?! YOU weren't there the night that Zimmerman shot Martin and YOU weren't in court every day, YOU didn't hear actual testimony and see actual evidence and listen to expert testimony. YOU didn't deliberate with 11 other people to come up with a verdict. All YOU have to go on is what you heard and saw in the media -and the media's SOLE purpose is to get ratings and sell newspapers. They purposely stir up controversy and public debate by putting out half-ass information and recycled sensationalized tag lines. And now, suddenly, we're all experts on what happened that night. Wow. There's only two witnesses to what really happened that night -and one of them is dead. That's really, REALLY unfortunate and terrible and sad and frustrating. But because that's the way things ended up, it's the job of the police (who initially obviously felt that there was NO crime committed since they didn't charge Zimmerman until 5 or 6 weeks later) and the DA and the jury to sort the whole thing out. Which is what just happened, by the way.
Our judicial system is FAR from perfect. Innocent people get locked away for years (or put to death in some cases) and guilty people get set free. It's smart and prudent for us to analyze and question decisions like this. But in order to make an informed decision on things like this, we need all of the complete facts -NOT- just what we get from the media.
The case is closed now, so move on. Stop watching whatever that is disguised as "news" these days and start educating yourself on the real problems facing this country - things that everyone should be ENRAGED about, but no one is. Our spiraling national debt, a crooked and fixed political system, and companies like Monsanto (with help from the USDA), attempting to control the world's food supply. Leave George Zimmerman alone.
People, George Zimmerman was found INNOCENT in a court of law -after a lengthy trial where facts, information, and numerous people's testimony was presented by professionally trained lawyers. Then a meticulously selected group of jurors who were all given specific guidelines and instructions on how to do their job were entrusted to decide -based on all the REAL evidence and ACTUAL testimony that all of us didn't have access to (but we somehow think we did thanks to the media!)- whether Mr. Zimmerman's actions were criminal.
George Zimmerman was found INNOCENT -after all that. Obviously all of Trayvon Martin's family and friends feel that justice was not served. I can understand that. But what about the rest of us?! Why is everyone saying they're going to boycott Florida -that this was a serious miscarriage of justice. How the HELL do YOU know this was a bad verdict?! YOU weren't there the night that Zimmerman shot Martin and YOU weren't in court every day, YOU didn't hear actual testimony and see actual evidence and listen to expert testimony. YOU didn't deliberate with 11 other people to come up with a verdict. All YOU have to go on is what you heard and saw in the media -and the media's SOLE purpose is to get ratings and sell newspapers. They purposely stir up controversy and public debate by putting out half-ass information and recycled sensationalized tag lines. And now, suddenly, we're all experts on what happened that night. Wow. There's only two witnesses to what really happened that night -and one of them is dead. That's really, REALLY unfortunate and terrible and sad and frustrating. But because that's the way things ended up, it's the job of the police (who initially obviously felt that there was NO crime committed since they didn't charge Zimmerman until 5 or 6 weeks later) and the DA and the jury to sort the whole thing out. Which is what just happened, by the way.
Our judicial system is FAR from perfect. Innocent people get locked away for years (or put to death in some cases) and guilty people get set free. It's smart and prudent for us to analyze and question decisions like this. But in order to make an informed decision on things like this, we need all of the complete facts -NOT- just what we get from the media.
The case is closed now, so move on. Stop watching whatever that is disguised as "news" these days and start educating yourself on the real problems facing this country - things that everyone should be ENRAGED about, but no one is. Our spiraling national debt, a crooked and fixed political system, and companies like Monsanto (with help from the USDA), attempting to control the world's food supply. Leave George Zimmerman alone.
Monday, March 4, 2013
No Time for Parties
While a lot of you continue to tow your party's line and throw up ads and charts and statistics as ammo to blame either the Republicans and the Democrats (Obama included) on the current state of the union, I just sit back in amazement at the immense level of stupidity that surrounds me every day.
The bottom line here is that we've got 535 members of Congress along with a President and all his cabinet members and advisors all of which are FAILING to effectively manage this country's economy. They're not only failing, they're making things worse. And it's not just this administration or session of congress; this same mismanagement has been going on for DECADES! Why? Because we're all REALLY STUPID - we keep voting for the same BULLSHIT every election! And then we join in with the idiots on Capitol Hill by blaming the other party for everything. So, all you have is two sides shifting the blame back and forth -over and over and over again. Guess what - that doesn't actually ACCOMPLISH anything! The only way things are going to change is if the entire system changes! Quit blowing your Republican or Democratic horn long enough to realize that YOU are part of the problem. Because you keep on swallowing the same bullshit from your party year after year after year.
Here's what you do instead:
Fire Congress. Right now! The whole lot of them. They're each making $174,000 a year (the leadership, slightly more) -- that's over $93Million each year, not including the salaries of all the support staff. For WHAT?! NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. The current approval rating for Congress is 14% - that means 86% of the population -the people who voted for these idiots in the first place- DON'T APPROVE of the way Congress is doing things. Now, if you or I had a meager 14% approval rating on our yearly review at work, do you think we'd still be employed?! Why is it different for Congress?
And while you're at, go ahead and fire the President too. He's pretty much a puppet of his party. Hasn't had any "REAL" power in over a hundred years.
There! Now we start fresh and hold open and FAIR debates and elections to choose some real leaders and visionaries. No more Two-Party choke hold on debates and elections. No more Two-Party choke hold on THE COUNTRY. We get to hear all voices and all ideas and we make our choices based on facts, not spinned up hype or dirty tricks. Congress should be made up of multiple parties; Green, Libertarian, Constitution, Independents... matter of fact, let's just take party affiliation out of the entire equation. I don't care if you're a member of the alien alliance party -if you've got the skills, ideas, and INTEGRITY to get this country turned around, YOU'RE HIRED!
And once you're hired, you either produced or you get fired. Screw these 2- or 6-year 'terms' - your job is now PERFORMANCE-based and you can be voted out after your first year.
Tell me, seriously, how could that NOT work?! It's obvious that what we have now is NOT working. It's time to try something new.
The bottom line here is that we've got 535 members of Congress along with a President and all his cabinet members and advisors all of which are FAILING to effectively manage this country's economy. They're not only failing, they're making things worse. And it's not just this administration or session of congress; this same mismanagement has been going on for DECADES! Why? Because we're all REALLY STUPID - we keep voting for the same BULLSHIT every election! And then we join in with the idiots on Capitol Hill by blaming the other party for everything. So, all you have is two sides shifting the blame back and forth -over and over and over again. Guess what - that doesn't actually ACCOMPLISH anything! The only way things are going to change is if the entire system changes! Quit blowing your Republican or Democratic horn long enough to realize that YOU are part of the problem. Because you keep on swallowing the same bullshit from your party year after year after year.
Here's what you do instead:
Fire Congress. Right now! The whole lot of them. They're each making $174,000 a year (the leadership, slightly more) -- that's over $93Million each year, not including the salaries of all the support staff. For WHAT?! NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. The current approval rating for Congress is 14% - that means 86% of the population -the people who voted for these idiots in the first place- DON'T APPROVE of the way Congress is doing things. Now, if you or I had a meager 14% approval rating on our yearly review at work, do you think we'd still be employed?! Why is it different for Congress?
And while you're at, go ahead and fire the President too. He's pretty much a puppet of his party. Hasn't had any "REAL" power in over a hundred years.
There! Now we start fresh and hold open and FAIR debates and elections to choose some real leaders and visionaries. No more Two-Party choke hold on debates and elections. No more Two-Party choke hold on THE COUNTRY. We get to hear all voices and all ideas and we make our choices based on facts, not spinned up hype or dirty tricks. Congress should be made up of multiple parties; Green, Libertarian, Constitution, Independents... matter of fact, let's just take party affiliation out of the entire equation. I don't care if you're a member of the alien alliance party -if you've got the skills, ideas, and INTEGRITY to get this country turned around, YOU'RE HIRED!
And once you're hired, you either produced or you get fired. Screw these 2- or 6-year 'terms' - your job is now PERFORMANCE-based and you can be voted out after your first year.
Tell me, seriously, how could that NOT work?! It's obvious that what we have now is NOT working. It's time to try something new.
Monday, February 18, 2013
NFL Rant
I love watching NFL football games. My favorite team is the Washington Redskins and this year, they actually gave us fans something to cheer about. I detest the Ravens -well, not so much the team, but more so the fans... the stupid ones (which there seems to be a high percentage of) - I call them "Baltimorons". So, you can imagine my agony this year after the Ravens won the Super Bowl. I watched all the fans going nuts in the streets as if they had all just won the lottery. Hell, it would've been a similar scene in D.C. if the Redskins had won the Super Bowl. Every city has a big party for their NFL team if they win.
But it all got me to thinking what suckers all us fans really are. I mean, what do WE, the fans, actually gain from our NFL team winning the Super Bowl? Bragging rights. Nothing more (unless you placed a little side bet on the Super Bowl). Meanwhile, all the players on the winning team get a nice ring and an extra $88,000 in their pocket - now that's in addition to their regular salary, performance bonuses, and any side endorsement deals. Sure, Baltimore as a city will benefit financially from having a Super Bowl champion team, but I'm talking about the average fan. I know guys who make a lot less money than I do, but yet they have season tickets or manage to get to several games each year to root on their team. They have multiple "official team jerseys" and all kinds of officially NFL-license gear to show their support for their team. And all for what? I think it's cool to root on your home team, but it kinda pisses me off when I stop and think about how much frickin' money the NFL and all the teams are pulling in -all of which is support by us, the stupid fans who buy tickets and merchandise to make hundreds of millionaires in the NFL even richer. And what do we get out of the deal? Bragging rights. Wow. We're pretty stupid.
Let's throw out some numbers:
The average NFL player's Salary is currently around $1.9 Million. That's average. Some make less - (bare minimum salary is $225,000/yr.)- and many make more. MUCH more. Take for instance:
Adrian Peterson (RB Vikings) ― $11,150,000/yr.
Matt Ryan (QB Falcons)― $12,990,000/yr.
Larry Fitzgerald (WR Cardinals) ― $13,250,000/yr.
Trent Williams (OT Redskins) ― $14,000,000/yr.
Peyton Manning (QB Broncos) ― $18,000,000/yr.
Dwight Freeney ― (DE Colts) $19,035,000/yr.
Wow. Now throw in the money from endorsement deals for some of the standout players. For instance, Peyton Manning made $15 Million last year just in endorsement deals... so that's $33 Million he made last year. Not bad. For playing a game.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell didn't have to PLAY the game - he just served as top dog. How much did he earn? Well, he nearly tripled his compensation in 2011, earning just under $30 million.
For the 2011/12 season, the Redskins had a annual salary budget of $104,305,244 with which to pay all the coaches (Mike Shanahan makes $7Million/yr., by the way), support staff, and players.
Let that sink in. The team's budget was over ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR MILLION DOLLARS!!!
Now let this sink in: As a whole, revenue in the NFL reached an estimated $9.5 billion in 2011-12. That is up $500 million (5.6%) from the year before. That's BILLION -with a "B".
Where does all this money come from?! The STUPID FANS.
On average, a fan will pay $78 for a ticket to a game and another $27 to park the damn car. If you're lucky, you can get a fountain soda and a hotdog for around $10 or, if you want a beer, you can cough up at least $7 for 16-oz. draft. Bottom line, the average cost for a family of four to attend a game is around $450. That's why you don't see me and my family at any games - because I have way better things to spend $450 on -especially when I can watch the game at home in the comfort of my own living room. Last year, I got a pair of pre-season tickets for $50 each and free parking pass and I still came away feeling as if I got screwed on the deal. By the time I bought a pizza, a soda, and a beer, I was out almost $30. That is insane!
Let's do some quick, simplified math. Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that every fan pays an average of $100 to attend a game at FedEx Field, home of the Redskins. Let's say they pack the place (79,000 people is the capacity)... That comes out to $7,900,000 in just ticket revenue. Now let's say everone spends only $10 on food and drink... $790,000. So that's a total of $8,690,000 revenue for ONE GAME. OK, so that example was overly simplied, but I'll bet it is coming in on the conservative side of what is actually raked in at each home Redskins game. We're stupid. And the NFL is laughing their collective asses off at us while they skip happily to the bank.
But wait! It gets better!
You may not know it, but the National Football League is a NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION. I'm sure it seems a little crazy that a collection of teams that generated at least $9 billion in revenue last season would be given tax-exempt status, but the NFL is technically classified as a 501(c)6 organization. Here’s how the IRS describes 501(c)6 tax-exempt status:
Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code provides for the exemption of business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards, boards of trade and professional football leagues, which are not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
Wow. You know what that means, right? Yeah, just like every other insanely rich corporation, bank, or person in this country, the NFL has come up with a way to get around paying their fair share of taxes.
Look, I'm not trying to say the NFL is evil or that I'm not ever going to root for the Redskins again, I'm simply pointing out one example (among thousands of others) of how far out of whack our priorities are. Why does the NFL exist and prosper? Because it can. There are thousands and thousands of people who believe that it's OK to get paid $18Million/year to play football games for 5 or 6 months out of the year. Yeah. Sure! Even though a large percentage of fans will earn nowhere close to $18Million in their entire lifetime. Doesn't matter. We like to root for our team, dammit! Whether it's baseball, football, hockey, or basketball... there seems to be something programmed within us that makes us enjoy rooting for professional athletes and teams and spend our hard-earned money making them richer. I don't get it. I can understand supporting high school and college teams so fanatically -after all, those players aren't making millions of dollars. They're playing for the love of the game. But you don't see them receiving celebrations and parades anywhere near the magnitude of professional sports. Why?
But it all got me to thinking what suckers all us fans really are. I mean, what do WE, the fans, actually gain from our NFL team winning the Super Bowl? Bragging rights. Nothing more (unless you placed a little side bet on the Super Bowl). Meanwhile, all the players on the winning team get a nice ring and an extra $88,000 in their pocket - now that's in addition to their regular salary, performance bonuses, and any side endorsement deals. Sure, Baltimore as a city will benefit financially from having a Super Bowl champion team, but I'm talking about the average fan. I know guys who make a lot less money than I do, but yet they have season tickets or manage to get to several games each year to root on their team. They have multiple "official team jerseys" and all kinds of officially NFL-license gear to show their support for their team. And all for what? I think it's cool to root on your home team, but it kinda pisses me off when I stop and think about how much frickin' money the NFL and all the teams are pulling in -all of which is support by us, the stupid fans who buy tickets and merchandise to make hundreds of millionaires in the NFL even richer. And what do we get out of the deal? Bragging rights. Wow. We're pretty stupid.
Let's throw out some numbers:
The average NFL player's Salary is currently around $1.9 Million. That's average. Some make less - (bare minimum salary is $225,000/yr.)- and many make more. MUCH more. Take for instance:
Adrian Peterson (RB Vikings) ― $11,150,000/yr.
Matt Ryan (QB Falcons)― $12,990,000/yr.
Larry Fitzgerald (WR Cardinals) ― $13,250,000/yr.
Trent Williams (OT Redskins) ― $14,000,000/yr.
Peyton Manning (QB Broncos) ― $18,000,000/yr.
Dwight Freeney ― (DE Colts) $19,035,000/yr.
Wow. Now throw in the money from endorsement deals for some of the standout players. For instance, Peyton Manning made $15 Million last year just in endorsement deals... so that's $33 Million he made last year. Not bad. For playing a game.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell didn't have to PLAY the game - he just served as top dog. How much did he earn? Well, he nearly tripled his compensation in 2011, earning just under $30 million.
For the 2011/12 season, the Redskins had a annual salary budget of $104,305,244 with which to pay all the coaches (Mike Shanahan makes $7Million/yr., by the way), support staff, and players.
Let that sink in. The team's budget was over ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR MILLION DOLLARS!!!
Now let this sink in: As a whole, revenue in the NFL reached an estimated $9.5 billion in 2011-12. That is up $500 million (5.6%) from the year before. That's BILLION -with a "B".
Where does all this money come from?! The STUPID FANS.
On average, a fan will pay $78 for a ticket to a game and another $27 to park the damn car. If you're lucky, you can get a fountain soda and a hotdog for around $10 or, if you want a beer, you can cough up at least $7 for 16-oz. draft. Bottom line, the average cost for a family of four to attend a game is around $450. That's why you don't see me and my family at any games - because I have way better things to spend $450 on -especially when I can watch the game at home in the comfort of my own living room. Last year, I got a pair of pre-season tickets for $50 each and free parking pass and I still came away feeling as if I got screwed on the deal. By the time I bought a pizza, a soda, and a beer, I was out almost $30. That is insane!
Let's do some quick, simplified math. Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that every fan pays an average of $100 to attend a game at FedEx Field, home of the Redskins. Let's say they pack the place (79,000 people is the capacity)... That comes out to $7,900,000 in just ticket revenue. Now let's say everone spends only $10 on food and drink... $790,000. So that's a total of $8,690,000 revenue for ONE GAME. OK, so that example was overly simplied, but I'll bet it is coming in on the conservative side of what is actually raked in at each home Redskins game. We're stupid. And the NFL is laughing their collective asses off at us while they skip happily to the bank.
But wait! It gets better!
You may not know it, but the National Football League is a NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION. I'm sure it seems a little crazy that a collection of teams that generated at least $9 billion in revenue last season would be given tax-exempt status, but the NFL is technically classified as a 501(c)6 organization. Here’s how the IRS describes 501(c)6 tax-exempt status:
Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code provides for the exemption of business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards, boards of trade and professional football leagues, which are not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
Wow. You know what that means, right? Yeah, just like every other insanely rich corporation, bank, or person in this country, the NFL has come up with a way to get around paying their fair share of taxes.
Look, I'm not trying to say the NFL is evil or that I'm not ever going to root for the Redskins again, I'm simply pointing out one example (among thousands of others) of how far out of whack our priorities are. Why does the NFL exist and prosper? Because it can. There are thousands and thousands of people who believe that it's OK to get paid $18Million/year to play football games for 5 or 6 months out of the year. Yeah. Sure! Even though a large percentage of fans will earn nowhere close to $18Million in their entire lifetime. Doesn't matter. We like to root for our team, dammit! Whether it's baseball, football, hockey, or basketball... there seems to be something programmed within us that makes us enjoy rooting for professional athletes and teams and spend our hard-earned money making them richer. I don't get it. I can understand supporting high school and college teams so fanatically -after all, those players aren't making millions of dollars. They're playing for the love of the game. But you don't see them receiving celebrations and parades anywhere near the magnitude of professional sports. Why?
Friday, December 14, 2012
Lunatics with guns piss me off. Lunatics with guns who feel that it's somehow necessary or fun or their duty in life to indiscriminately kill complete strangers that they've never met and that have never done anything to deserve to be shot to death. Thanks to our pretty much instant news cycle, we find out about way too many of these crazy people with guns going on shooting sprees and mowing down completely innocent people. We hear and see way too many graphic details about these senseless acts of violence and then, thanks to the blood-sucking vultures calling themselves reporters, we get to see every single angle and backstory painfully dissected and examined. Victims and victims' family members get cameras and microphones shoved in their faces all for the sake of ratings and sensationalism. So, yeah, I guess the news media pisses me off just as much as lunatics with guns.
And then there's everyone else... on Twitter... on Facebook... who feel it necessary to voice their opinions and substantiate their beliefs by single-handedly identifying the one single person or thing or policy that is to blame for the tragedy of the week. Like this morning's tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut where another lunatic with a gun barged into an elementary school and killed 28 people -20 of them young children. Moments after reading everyone's Facebook posts extending prayers and sympathy for the victims, the debates start. Foolish statements like "If guns were illegal, this would have never happened!" or "If the teachers were armed, they could've stopped this lunatic!" or "If the school had a security guard, he could've killed the shooter as he entered the building!" Really?! How the fuck do you know what WOULD'VE happened if the circumstances were different? You DON'T! You CAN'T!
This is some frightening shit, ladies and gentlemen. I'm always saying to my wife, "Honey, we're surrounded by idiots." We are. I wish I were joking, but it really isn't that funny. The really scary thing is a lot of these idiots also fall into the "lunatic" category. It's a little unnerving when you realize that any one (or two or three) of the people you randomly come in contact with every day could be that next "lunatic" who picks up a gun or makes a bomb, or goes on a stabbing spree. Just how the hell are we supposed to easily mitigate that kind of risk? We have to do SOMETHING. It'd be nice to chalk it up to a "random act of violence" and move on, but when these random acts of violence start reoccurring with uncomfortable frequency, we can't just sit by and idly wait for the next lunatic to come unhinged. With each new tragedy, we become more saddened, more angry, and (hopefully) more determined to do something about it. But singling out one thing -one issue- and lumping all the blame there is just plain idiotic. Stop it, will ya?! There are no easy answers or solutions when it comes to finding better ways to protect innocent people from lunatics with guns. It'd be awesome if just making gun ownership illegal would solve the whole problem, but it won't. We're at a point in our evolution/history now that anyone who REALLY wants a gun will GET a gun; one way or another. Legally or illegally. And if a person wants to make a bomb and level an office building, they WILL make a bomb. One way or another. So simply putting a ban on all gun ownership, isn't going to fix the problem. Perhaps it would mitigate some of the risk -maybe- but it isn't "THE ANSWER". Just like those who say "Every citizen should have a gun and know how to use it!" -wow, that is SO not the answer either.
Personally, I never felt the need to have a gun. I'm not saying that wouldn't change if I were the victim of a home invasion or other violent crime. I'm sure the thought would cross my mind "gee, if I would've had a gun..." But, so far, after 40 some years of life - eight of which was spent in the Army where I got to fire guns and other weapons on a regular basis- I've never found myself longing to own a gun and exercise my right to bear arms. But hey, that's just me. You want to own a handgun to protect yourself or your family - OK, I can see that. You want to own a couple hunting rifles because you're an avid hunter? OK. You want to own a couple AK-47s and AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifles? Um, why? That, I don't quite get. Fine, you're a gun freak and you love to shoot. OK. Then go to a firing range and rent an assault rifle for an hour and fire away. I think when our forefathers included "the right to bear arms" times were a little bit different than they are today and I don't think they were foreseeing folks owning machine guns or RPGs. I'd like to think they were just trying to point out that we all have the right to defend ourselves. I know plenty of folks will disagree with that interpretation. Fine.
Moving past the issue of gun control, there are many other angles to look at if we want to stop lunatics killing innocent folks. I don't think we can ever truly prevent something like this from ever happening again. Sadly, that's the world we live in. But there are a lot of other things we can do -new policies, new procedures, new studies, new laws- besides wasting time arguing back and forth on emotionally charged issues. Let's take all that passion and energy and use it to apply logic, objectivity, and understanding to this problem and come up with a multi-pronged approach to do as much as possible to avoid these types of tragedies in the future.
And then there's everyone else... on Twitter... on Facebook... who feel it necessary to voice their opinions and substantiate their beliefs by single-handedly identifying the one single person or thing or policy that is to blame for the tragedy of the week. Like this morning's tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut where another lunatic with a gun barged into an elementary school and killed 28 people -20 of them young children. Moments after reading everyone's Facebook posts extending prayers and sympathy for the victims, the debates start. Foolish statements like "If guns were illegal, this would have never happened!" or "If the teachers were armed, they could've stopped this lunatic!" or "If the school had a security guard, he could've killed the shooter as he entered the building!" Really?! How the fuck do you know what WOULD'VE happened if the circumstances were different? You DON'T! You CAN'T!
This is some frightening shit, ladies and gentlemen. I'm always saying to my wife, "Honey, we're surrounded by idiots." We are. I wish I were joking, but it really isn't that funny. The really scary thing is a lot of these idiots also fall into the "lunatic" category. It's a little unnerving when you realize that any one (or two or three) of the people you randomly come in contact with every day could be that next "lunatic" who picks up a gun or makes a bomb, or goes on a stabbing spree. Just how the hell are we supposed to easily mitigate that kind of risk? We have to do SOMETHING. It'd be nice to chalk it up to a "random act of violence" and move on, but when these random acts of violence start reoccurring with uncomfortable frequency, we can't just sit by and idly wait for the next lunatic to come unhinged. With each new tragedy, we become more saddened, more angry, and (hopefully) more determined to do something about it. But singling out one thing -one issue- and lumping all the blame there is just plain idiotic. Stop it, will ya?! There are no easy answers or solutions when it comes to finding better ways to protect innocent people from lunatics with guns. It'd be awesome if just making gun ownership illegal would solve the whole problem, but it won't. We're at a point in our evolution/history now that anyone who REALLY wants a gun will GET a gun; one way or another. Legally or illegally. And if a person wants to make a bomb and level an office building, they WILL make a bomb. One way or another. So simply putting a ban on all gun ownership, isn't going to fix the problem. Perhaps it would mitigate some of the risk -maybe- but it isn't "THE ANSWER". Just like those who say "Every citizen should have a gun and know how to use it!" -wow, that is SO not the answer either.
Personally, I never felt the need to have a gun. I'm not saying that wouldn't change if I were the victim of a home invasion or other violent crime. I'm sure the thought would cross my mind "gee, if I would've had a gun..." But, so far, after 40 some years of life - eight of which was spent in the Army where I got to fire guns and other weapons on a regular basis- I've never found myself longing to own a gun and exercise my right to bear arms. But hey, that's just me. You want to own a handgun to protect yourself or your family - OK, I can see that. You want to own a couple hunting rifles because you're an avid hunter? OK. You want to own a couple AK-47s and AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifles? Um, why? That, I don't quite get. Fine, you're a gun freak and you love to shoot. OK. Then go to a firing range and rent an assault rifle for an hour and fire away. I think when our forefathers included "the right to bear arms" times were a little bit different than they are today and I don't think they were foreseeing folks owning machine guns or RPGs. I'd like to think they were just trying to point out that we all have the right to defend ourselves. I know plenty of folks will disagree with that interpretation. Fine.
Moving past the issue of gun control, there are many other angles to look at if we want to stop lunatics killing innocent folks. I don't think we can ever truly prevent something like this from ever happening again. Sadly, that's the world we live in. But there are a lot of other things we can do -new policies, new procedures, new studies, new laws- besides wasting time arguing back and forth on emotionally charged issues. Let's take all that passion and energy and use it to apply logic, objectivity, and understanding to this problem and come up with a multi-pronged approach to do as much as possible to avoid these types of tragedies in the future.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Haters Gonna Hate - Let's not, OK?
I'm not a fan of Michael Vick. I never really paid much attention to the guy before all the dog fighting details came out. And after hearing all that and seeing how he tried to deny his culpability for so long, well let's just say I really wasn't a fan then. I was angered by his actions and his unwillingness to own up to those actions so I was also very glad that he was exposed for what he was: a cold, ruthless abuser and killer of innocent animals -and a liar and a coward. Listening to him speak and watching the way he presented himself, I could also tell right away that we weren't dealing with a very intellectual individual here. Had it not been for his athletic abilities, I doubt Michael Vick would've done anything of much importance or value with his life. I mean, here's a guy who had a multi-million-dollar NFL contract and what did he choose to invest his money in? Illegal dog fighting. Really? Wow. Obviously the guy is not a Rhodes Scholar nor will he win any Boy Scout Character awards.
Let's face it, Michael Vick probably didn't have very good role models growing up. Not that I know anything about his youth or his parents, but I'd be willing to bet his early formative years played a large role in how he ended up as an adult. I don’t think Bad Newz Kennels was the work of an otherwise morally sound upstanding citizen who made an oversight in judgement or slipped up and made a bad decision. No, dog fighting -and the horrific abuse used to train the dogs- was just an everyday fact of life for Michael Vick. Just like thrusting a bunch of sharp spears in the spine of a bull is considered normal to fans of bull fighting. It's just the way it was. Michael Vikc and his relatives and friends grew up with the notion that dog fighting was cool and violence was normal. To the rest of us, that might sound crazy and unbelievable, but it's very easy to become accustomed to something as barbaric as dog fighting when you're exposed to it starting when you're 8 years old.
Furthermore, had Michael Vick been able to escape the whole scandal unscathed, I doubt it would've changed his heart and his mind when it came to fighting pit bulls. He probably would've chuckled and gloated in the fact that he got away with something. But he didn't. For all wiggling, lying, and back-stepping, Michael Vick could not escape the truth. And while many will argue that his punishment was not nearly harsh enough, he was punished and he did pay a heavy price for his actions. Every day in this country hardened criminals, murderers, and rapists end up getting off easy because of loopholes in our legal system and restrictions on sentencing. How many stories have you read about a serial rapist being set free only to end up raping someone else. Our legal system has many shortcomings and oversights. But that can't be blamed on Michael Vick. His lawyers did what any competent legal team would do; they tried to get Michael the best deal possible under the circumstances. And, likewise, the Government was trying to do the same thing for their side -get the best deal possible.
The bottom line is, despite a lot of people thinking he should have been put to death for what he did, Michael Vick didn't just get a small fine and a slap on the wrist. He did some serious jail time -nearly 2 years- and in the process he lost his job and all his endorsement deals. He ended up bankrupt. At the end of 2006, Sports Illustrated magazine had estimated Vick's annual income between his NFL salary and endorsements at $25.4 million. Just over a year later in July of 2008, Vick sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection -his finances were in such disarray that a trustee had to be appointed by the court to oversee the whole mess. So when you take all that into consideration, it's a bit of a stretch for me to agree with the folks who say he got off easy.
I guess the real salt in the wound for all the die-hard Michael Vick haters out there is the fact that he was able to get his life back after all of that. There's a lot of people that think he should have been barred for life from the NFL. Maybe so. But he really wasn't given any special treatment or hero's welcome back. He took another shot and it worked out for him. As I've stated before, Michael Vick isn't known for his intelligence but he's obviously a naturally gifted athlete. So, if I were Michael Vick coming out of jail, looking to take my best shot at getting some semblance of a normal life back, where do you think I'd look first? Exactly where he did -the NFL. It's all the guy knew how to do besides run an illegal dog fighting business (and we all saw how THAT endeavour turned out).
I don't want to argue about whether Michael Vick is a changed man or whether he's truly sorry for all he's done. There's so many reports, rumors, and spun-up bullshit out there on the internet, it's hard for me to conclude anything about what Michael Vick the person actually feels inside his heart and soul about all this. I really don't care. I think he deserved every bad thing that happened to him and, regardless how some people fear this, no one is ever going to forget what he did. Ever. That's always going to be a part of his history now. As it should be. If he didn't really truly learn his lesson from all this -and if he didn't experience a spiritual growth and change of heart well, at the very least, he's doing a decent job at pretending he did. He's accepted responsibility for what he did and he's apologized. Is he sincere? I hope so, but who can say for sure.
Whether or not he's sincere, I really can't fault the guy for going back and trying to do what he does best; play football. He's obviously still very gifted at the game and he's been able to gain some respect these days from his teammates and fellow players. He's making good money again and he's even endorsed by Nike along with coming out with his own clothing line. None of that redemption was handed to him on a silver platter. He had to work to get it back. Keep in mind too that a sizeable portion of the money Michael Vick earns will end up going to various charities (in addition to paying off lots of legal-related bills lawsuits) for years and years to come. He's also lobbied for H.R. 2492, the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, which would establish federal misdemeanor penalties against convicted spectators of illegal animal fighting and make it a felony for adults to bring children to fights. He founded Team Vick Foundation, a non-profit, 501c3 charity to provide second chances and support to individuals and communities who need it most. He also lived up to his pledge to become an advocate for animal welfare and has appeared in public service announcements for the Humane Society. This all begs the question what more does the guy have to do in order for people to just move the hell on. I don't want you to join the Michael Vick fan club or recommend him for sainthood, just stop spewing this non-stop hate campaign against the guy. It's NOT doing anyone any good. Really. If you vehemently hate Michael Vick and want him dead for all the horrible crimes he committed against dogs, I'm pretty sure you're going to go to your grave feeling that way. To me, that's a little sad, but certainly your prerogative. Likewise, if you're a Michael Vick fan and/or one of the many (there's more than you think) people out there who just don't see the big deal with dog fighting, you're not likely to change your opinion of the guy based on the words of a bunch of hate-filled wackos constantly shouting at the top of their lungs. And for all the middle-of-the-road folks -the ones who may not follow football or care too much about animal rights- all this hate is probably just a tad tiring and embarrassing.
I think the people who view their pets as disposable pieces of property ought to be smacked up side of their heads and held accountable for the life they would so easily cast aside. In short, there's a lot of positive things we, as animal/dog-lovers, can do to make this world a better place for dogs and humans alike. There are already millions of people around the country -and the world- who tirelessly fight to save the lives of endangered and abused animals and I think their service to humanity as a whole is priceless. But despite all of their efforts, we still have a huge problem of humans taking advantage of animals. We're at the top of the food chain and a lot of us feel entitled to do whatever the hell we want with the lesser advanced beings we share this earth with. It's a sad fact of who we are as a race. But rather than sit around and feel sad and helpess, it's good to know that one person can, indeed, make a difference. The key is to focus all our efforts towards positive goals.
Sorry, but in my opinion, constantly posting Michael Vick Hate Ads on Facebook or carrying "Boycott Michael Vick" signs outside of Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles'Stadium) isn't doing anyone -including your cause- any good. You're focusing on hate and recycling gruesome pictures and reminding us all of how evil mankind can be. You're wasting a good portion of your time, energy, and heart towards spreading hate with no real pay-off in the end. If all the Michael Vick haters would just focus that energy elsewhere, they'd probably feel a whole lot better and get more accomplished.
Think Michael Vick got off easy in court? Then find ways to change the laws and penalties related to illegal dog fighting!
Think Michael Vick should have been barred for life from the NFL? Then bring your case before the powers-that-be in the NFL.
As human beings, we're all capable of doing some horrendous things. But what sets us apart from most of the other animals on the planet is our advanced ability to reason and adapt and evolve. Because of that ability, we're also capable of some astoundingly awesome achievements. We've got enough hate and violence and despair in the world right now. What we're lacking as a race is love, tolerance, and forgiveness.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Priorities Askew
The way to get America back on track is simple, but painful. We have to start back at square one; the Constitution of the United States. It's a perfect foundational cornerstone upon which to rebuild the nation. Everything else in our current Government has to be honestly re-evaluated and reworked. The size and complexity of the government has to be whittled down to a more manageable system that is equitable to everyone. We have to come up with list of priorities for the nation that are set in stone, adhered to, and worked towards -no exceptions. The constitution was created 225 years ago and, despite its age, the ideals and principles that are found inside -along with the many amendments over the years- are still valid for all of us as a nation. However, the way in which we implement the constitution is in need of a major upgrage. There were no cars, airplanes, or computers back in 1787. Communication and travel over great distances was cumbersome and time-consuming. The level of education of the average American was nothing close to what it is today. Back then, we needed a way to make the government work for everyone. We did this through the idea of a few representing the many (i.e., Congress and the Senate). The Electoral College was implemented in an attempt to make voting fair for all the states -and make the voting process as quick as possible.
Our current Government doesn't work. It's broke. The entire country is broke. We're the victims of decades full of ineptness, ignorance, and -most of all- greed. Our current government benefits the rich and ignores the poor, the indigant, and the sick. Our current government runs on backroom deals and special interest payoffs and is completely controlled the dual Democratic and Republican junta. These two political parties control EVERYTHING in the country and they do a really shitty job at it. That's because most of their time is spent arguing with each other while each is scheming new ways to control more of the money and power. While members of both parties are completely inept at running a county - a majority of them can't even balance their checkbook- they are highly skilled at making money, hiding money, and deceiving the general public. They are totally out of touch and damn near oblivious to what the average American is dealing with as a result of their mismanagement and greed. The important things to them are money and power -the two go hand in hand. A lot of what goes on in Washington is outright criminal in nature but these criminals know how to cover their tracks. They take turns shifting the blame and promising a new tomorrow while the rest of us -the so-called 99%- continue to be bled dry. And -lucky them!- most of us continue -decade after decade- to believe and/or accept the same recycled bullshit. Why? Are we all that low on common sense that we can't see that things are getting progressively worse, year after year? Our way of government is OUT-DATED, BROKEN, CORRUPT. We need to fix it by starting back at square one.
First of all, we no longer need SO many politicians to run things. We have technology on our side now. 200 years ago there was a valid reason for having representatives in Washington, D.C. for every state and territory. Now? Why? Why can't we, with the help of today's technology take an active role in representing ourselves? Why do I have to depend on some elected dickhead to hear my tiny voice and trust him to carry it all the way to Washington. How friggin' STUPID is that -when I can now click a few keys and connect directly to the White House web site and communicate directly with the president and tell him what I think? Congressmen, Senators, Councilmen, Delegates, County Executives... the list goes on and on and on. Do we REALLY need all these people on the Government's payroll? Are they REALLY making anything better?
How about voting? I'd sure like to have more than two choices every four years for President. Almost all elections are controlled by the two major parties; the Democrats and the Republicans. It's obvious that neither party has the answers. I mean, c'mon and WAKE UP people - these two groups have been COMPLETELY IN CONTROL of the country for the last 150 years or so. Nothing has gotten better -almost everything has gotten worse. Millions upon Millions of dollars are raised and spent by the Repulicans and Democrats during each general election. For what? To get their guy elected to a job with a base salary of $400,000 a year. That's like me raising and spending $100,000 to land a job at Burger King. The plain fact of the matter is that the party who has their guy in the White House gets to control more of ALL THE MONEY IN COUNTRY. That's why there's MILLIONS spent to get that job. It's all about power and control of unimaginable sums of money. Money that's used to pay of other governments and other politicians and make everyone in Washington that much richer.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, here we are. The 'ordinary' folks. The Middle Class, Lower-Middle Class, and the extremely poor. Half of us continue to swallow the bullshit fed to us by the politicians while the other half of us are so fed up and despondent, we really don't give a rat's ass what they say. We all can agree on one thing though: things are bad; the worst they've ever been. A lot of us still complain and a few of actually try to effect positive changes, but the system is rigged so much in the favor of the fat, greedy politicians, there's very little hope of any real change happening as long as the current system of government remains in place. That's the first major hurdle.
The second hurdle and utmost priority is to take care of our own. How can we send BILLIONS of dollars overseas to 2nd- and 3rd-world countries when we have up to a MILLION HOMELESS AMERICANS and another couple million living at or below the poverty level. That'd be like me giving food and money to my next-door neighbor while my wife and kids were starving in my own house. How can we help anyone else when we can't even help ourselves? My heart goes out to all the starving and sick people worldwide, but we need to get our priorities in order. We take care of our own FIRST. Doing so will only serve to strengthen us as a nation and will eventually enable us to extend that help outside of our border. But we have to get our own house in order first.
Once we elimanate the homelessness and extreme poverty here in America, the next step is to eliminate the national debt. Again, this is basic common sense. How in the hell can you be over $15,630,961,878,404 (that's 15 TRILLION, y'all!) in debt and still be spending billions on budgets and appropriations and send billions abroad? Where's this money coming from?! Once I'm out of money -and credit- as a person, I'm done until I either (a) make more money or (b) pay off my credit card. And if I fail to pay a debt, the consequences are swift and painful. Not so though for the Government. Why? Why should it be any different? Especially when you take into consideration that the money that they're spending (and obviously mismanaging) in Washington is coming from all us taxpayers. And we don't have a choice to say "No more, Dumb-ass! You can't have any more of my money until you learn how to manage it wisely and honestly!" Hell, if we don't pay our taxes, we go to jail. But all the politicians are free to mismanage and steal that money without any risk of losing their job, let alone going to jail. That's just friggin' ludicrous to me. You get hired to do a job that you end up sucking at -in the real world what happens? YOU GET FIRED. Not so when it comes to our elected officials.
Along with taking care of homelessness, poverty, and the national debt, we need to reevaluate our foreign relations with all the countries we're currently "doing business" with. Most of the "deals" that are in place now are the backroom type. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Most are NOT in the best interest of the American people as a whole. They are designed to benefit the greedy government officials on both sides that came up with the deals. We were not protecting our national interests when we invaded Iraq. Let's be honest - we were in a post-9/11 hysteria bent on revenge and justice. Somebody had to pay! And since we couldn't put our hands on Osama Bin Laden, and everyone else directly responsible for the terrorist attacks died in the attacks, Saddam Hussein seemed like the next best target. Like we really gave a shit about the the people of Iraq. C'mon, Saddam was killing and torturing them for DECADES before he became a thorn in our side. No, the flip side for us was the oil. More money to line the pockets of politicians. But I digress. The point is, we need to stop playing Policeman to the World and focus squarely on our own country. Sure, it's important to develop strong ties internationally, but not at the cost of our own country's resources -our money, our lives. We can't be sending billions of dollars overseas when we have people starving and homeless here. THAT MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!!
Many will argue that what I suggest is an over-simplified solution and one that is impossible to implement. I say the biggest hurdle is ourselves and our apathy, laziness, ignorance, and -in some cases- stupidity. We're all willing to bitch and complain but very few of us are willing to take action. And, let's face it, dislodging this corrupt and gluttonous government would be a long, painful, uphill battle. There's a lot of us who can't see the forest for the trees -who still think our current form of government is working just fine. Those are the folks I really fear. Those are the folks our current elected officials love.
Our current Government doesn't work. It's broke. The entire country is broke. We're the victims of decades full of ineptness, ignorance, and -most of all- greed. Our current government benefits the rich and ignores the poor, the indigant, and the sick. Our current government runs on backroom deals and special interest payoffs and is completely controlled the dual Democratic and Republican junta. These two political parties control EVERYTHING in the country and they do a really shitty job at it. That's because most of their time is spent arguing with each other while each is scheming new ways to control more of the money and power. While members of both parties are completely inept at running a county - a majority of them can't even balance their checkbook- they are highly skilled at making money, hiding money, and deceiving the general public. They are totally out of touch and damn near oblivious to what the average American is dealing with as a result of their mismanagement and greed. The important things to them are money and power -the two go hand in hand. A lot of what goes on in Washington is outright criminal in nature but these criminals know how to cover their tracks. They take turns shifting the blame and promising a new tomorrow while the rest of us -the so-called 99%- continue to be bled dry. And -lucky them!- most of us continue -decade after decade- to believe and/or accept the same recycled bullshit. Why? Are we all that low on common sense that we can't see that things are getting progressively worse, year after year? Our way of government is OUT-DATED, BROKEN, CORRUPT. We need to fix it by starting back at square one.
First of all, we no longer need SO many politicians to run things. We have technology on our side now. 200 years ago there was a valid reason for having representatives in Washington, D.C. for every state and territory. Now? Why? Why can't we, with the help of today's technology take an active role in representing ourselves? Why do I have to depend on some elected dickhead to hear my tiny voice and trust him to carry it all the way to Washington. How friggin' STUPID is that -when I can now click a few keys and connect directly to the White House web site and communicate directly with the president and tell him what I think? Congressmen, Senators, Councilmen, Delegates, County Executives... the list goes on and on and on. Do we REALLY need all these people on the Government's payroll? Are they REALLY making anything better?
How about voting? I'd sure like to have more than two choices every four years for President. Almost all elections are controlled by the two major parties; the Democrats and the Republicans. It's obvious that neither party has the answers. I mean, c'mon and WAKE UP people - these two groups have been COMPLETELY IN CONTROL of the country for the last 150 years or so. Nothing has gotten better -almost everything has gotten worse. Millions upon Millions of dollars are raised and spent by the Repulicans and Democrats during each general election. For what? To get their guy elected to a job with a base salary of $400,000 a year. That's like me raising and spending $100,000 to land a job at Burger King. The plain fact of the matter is that the party who has their guy in the White House gets to control more of ALL THE MONEY IN COUNTRY. That's why there's MILLIONS spent to get that job. It's all about power and control of unimaginable sums of money. Money that's used to pay of other governments and other politicians and make everyone in Washington that much richer.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, here we are. The 'ordinary' folks. The Middle Class, Lower-Middle Class, and the extremely poor. Half of us continue to swallow the bullshit fed to us by the politicians while the other half of us are so fed up and despondent, we really don't give a rat's ass what they say. We all can agree on one thing though: things are bad; the worst they've ever been. A lot of us still complain and a few of actually try to effect positive changes, but the system is rigged so much in the favor of the fat, greedy politicians, there's very little hope of any real change happening as long as the current system of government remains in place. That's the first major hurdle.
The second hurdle and utmost priority is to take care of our own. How can we send BILLIONS of dollars overseas to 2nd- and 3rd-world countries when we have up to a MILLION HOMELESS AMERICANS and another couple million living at or below the poverty level. That'd be like me giving food and money to my next-door neighbor while my wife and kids were starving in my own house. How can we help anyone else when we can't even help ourselves? My heart goes out to all the starving and sick people worldwide, but we need to get our priorities in order. We take care of our own FIRST. Doing so will only serve to strengthen us as a nation and will eventually enable us to extend that help outside of our border. But we have to get our own house in order first.
Once we elimanate the homelessness and extreme poverty here in America, the next step is to eliminate the national debt. Again, this is basic common sense. How in the hell can you be over $15,630,961,878,404 (that's 15 TRILLION, y'all!) in debt and still be spending billions on budgets and appropriations and send billions abroad? Where's this money coming from?! Once I'm out of money -and credit- as a person, I'm done until I either (a) make more money or (b) pay off my credit card. And if I fail to pay a debt, the consequences are swift and painful. Not so though for the Government. Why? Why should it be any different? Especially when you take into consideration that the money that they're spending (and obviously mismanaging) in Washington is coming from all us taxpayers. And we don't have a choice to say "No more, Dumb-ass! You can't have any more of my money until you learn how to manage it wisely and honestly!" Hell, if we don't pay our taxes, we go to jail. But all the politicians are free to mismanage and steal that money without any risk of losing their job, let alone going to jail. That's just friggin' ludicrous to me. You get hired to do a job that you end up sucking at -in the real world what happens? YOU GET FIRED. Not so when it comes to our elected officials.
Along with taking care of homelessness, poverty, and the national debt, we need to reevaluate our foreign relations with all the countries we're currently "doing business" with. Most of the "deals" that are in place now are the backroom type. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Most are NOT in the best interest of the American people as a whole. They are designed to benefit the greedy government officials on both sides that came up with the deals. We were not protecting our national interests when we invaded Iraq. Let's be honest - we were in a post-9/11 hysteria bent on revenge and justice. Somebody had to pay! And since we couldn't put our hands on Osama Bin Laden, and everyone else directly responsible for the terrorist attacks died in the attacks, Saddam Hussein seemed like the next best target. Like we really gave a shit about the the people of Iraq. C'mon, Saddam was killing and torturing them for DECADES before he became a thorn in our side. No, the flip side for us was the oil. More money to line the pockets of politicians. But I digress. The point is, we need to stop playing Policeman to the World and focus squarely on our own country. Sure, it's important to develop strong ties internationally, but not at the cost of our own country's resources -our money, our lives. We can't be sending billions of dollars overseas when we have people starving and homeless here. THAT MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!!
Many will argue that what I suggest is an over-simplified solution and one that is impossible to implement. I say the biggest hurdle is ourselves and our apathy, laziness, ignorance, and -in some cases- stupidity. We're all willing to bitch and complain but very few of us are willing to take action. And, let's face it, dislodging this corrupt and gluttonous government would be a long, painful, uphill battle. There's a lot of us who can't see the forest for the trees -who still think our current form of government is working just fine. Those are the folks I really fear. Those are the folks our current elected officials love.
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