Apathy in America

As I watched yet another GOP presidential wannabe implode, I started thinking about how we came to this point. This point where a group of clowns in nice suits can spawn our possible next president. How can this be?  The Occupy movement is going strong, for all the attempts to shut it down. Even with the attacks on our educational system, this is still a mostly intelligent and educated society. So what's with the acceptance of these total losers as possible presidential material?

Then I got the answer: Apathy. Yup, that's right, apathy. How can that be? you ask. How can it NOT be, I say.

Too many people are living horror stories. Private, personal horror stories. They've lost their jobs, their homes, their savings, and there isn't an end in sight. All they see on the news is bad. The economy sucks, the war in the Mideast drags on, and now, on top of everything, on the horizon is a holiday that used to be a time of hope. Too many people have seen their futures destroyed along with the futures of their children. Some may have taken part in the Occupy movement in the beginning, but that doesn't put food on the table or clothes on their backs and it doesn't pay the rent.

Then they start listening to a bunch of people who are jockeying for position to become the next President of the United States. At first, they probably laugh and scoff, but then they start hearing what they want to hear: Quick, easy answers to all their problems. It doesn't matter that these "solutions" won't work. Its what they want to hear.

This is what really scares me. One of the clowns may become president because people can't afford to care any more and will vote for the one with the easy answers with no substance.

Remembering too much

Remember September 11, 2001. Today is the 10th anniversary of that day. It isn't something that anyone can really forget. But isn't it time we stopped picking at the scab and let it scar over? We really need to grow through and past what happened. It really doesn't do anyone any good to keep the memory so fresh that we can't finish grieving for what happened.

Does anyone remember April 19, 1995? I'm sure some do, but this is a date we should remember as well.

This is just plain wrong

This isn't what I was going to say today, but a friend pointed out that "Deviant Art" is dropping the ball big time.  Here's what my friend had to say:

Dear Deviant Art:

How long will it be before you open your eyes and see that the 'joking' stamps about rape are not jokes, that they are warning signs that the person who makes them sees rape as funny and encourages others who think like they do? We report them and you seem to just giggle and ignore us, as if you agree with these sociopathic cretins that keep making these violent stamps. Well starting today, each time one comes to my attention there will be a post about it on all my blogs and on FB and Twitter. Oh and on Care2 as well. I want the world to see that Deviant Art seems to have a hatred of women and encourages that attitude. 
Shame on you for supporting rape, for that tells me you care little for the welfare of the women in your lives and I feel such sympathy for them. 
And so people can see what you support, let's share a link or three shall we? And I ask all who read this to report these stamps and even reblog this to get more people to pressure DA into doing the right thing.
Nastiness 1

Nastiness 2

Really? Some things are just plain wrong, and this is one of them. Okay, Deviant Art, time to wake up and fix this.

Tea Party? No!

Until the "Tea Party" is officially designated as a viable political party, we really need to stop using that term. At the very least, add in the word "Republican." Why? Because there will be no "Tea Party" designation on the ballots come election time. There are those who will look for their favorite "Tea Party" candidate....

Second, I really don't like the term "Tea Party" since it kind of means that they are patriots of some sort. Patriots with a very skewed sense of history. Apparently, all that tea was dumped into the Boston Harbor to stop the British from taxing us and the "Tea Partiers" are all about no taxation.... They forget about the other two words: "without representation."

I say we go back to calling them "Tea Baggers" since the term fits... "Tea Bagger Republican". I like the sound of that......

In Which I Lose My Temper Over Politics

Okay. I have had it. I am sick of the stupid partisan politics. I am sick of the idiocy that is happening over the national budget. I HAVE HAD IT! 

Dear Elected Officials: Do your f*cking job. So, you don't want Pres. Obama re-elected. WHO CARES! You know what people are going to remember?? Huh? Do you? They are going to remember you guys f*cking around with our lives. Guess who won't get re-elected..... Won't be just the Pres. ALL of you jerkwads are going to lose your jobs because you are being so f*cking stupid. Yes, I am PISSED OFF!

For some reason, ALL of these elected officials think the voting public is too stupid to remember any of this come election time. They had best think again because I, for one, will keep it to the top of the list of things to talk about. Maybe Boehner wants to find out first hand what its like to be unemployed? Maybe Sean Duffy thinks that we're all so forgetful and won't remember his pissing and moaning about how hard it is for him to pay his bills with a six figure salary when 3/4 of his constituents will never make half of that.

Stop screwing the people who put you in power just because you don't like the President. How does what you are doing keep him from getting re-elected? You think your voters won't remember? How stupid do you think we are? What was the plan? Ummmm, lets mess things up and then tell everyone that its the President's fault because he's the one in charge. Yeah, that'll work.

It is time to remember a little history. The big finance bail-outs? That was under the Bush presidency. Entry inton not one, but two wars? Yup, you guessed it, Bush again. Do the math. The budget problem was set up by A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT. Even better, the problems in the Bush presidency were set in action by.... THE FIRST BUSH PRESIDENT. Yes. And the rest of the budget problems? Well, do you really need to be told again that trickle down economics DOES NOT WORK. It never did, it never could, and you bought it like it was the gold standard. 

I am sick of all of it. Leave the politics out of the budget talks. Hell, leave the f*ucking partisan politics out of the whole thing. Each of you elected idiots has personal things you want to get passed... how many of those things actually help the people who put you in office? My guess is about 1% the rest is all for personal glory.

I am calling on the voters to vote every single one of these greedy, narcissistic asshats out of office. Let them be the ones trying to figure out how to feed their families and pay the doctor and keep a roof over their heads. I have had enough. 

Its time we all quoted the movie "Network."  "I'M MAD AS HELL AND I"M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT!"

The Dark Side of the Social Internet

I guess it was inevitable.

Social networking is THE thing these days what with blogging, FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace (well, maybe not so much) and other sites. Along with the social part comes something that everyone's mom would cringe at and would then send us to our rooms with no supper over... Rudeness.

Only its more than just being rude. Its some people feeling like they can get away with just about anything because of the anonymity afforded by the very nature of the internet. Everyone is basically faceless and unknown to everyone else and likely to stay that way.

This lends itself to blog comments calling the blog host a "moron" or an "imbecile". And it goes downhill from there. In extreme cases, the rudeness devolves into bullying and whether you are a direct target or not, bullying hurts everyone. 

The unfortunate thing is, most of these bullies hide behind the Constitution (if they're American) if they're caught. The vast majority are not caught or stopped. So, where does that leave us? In the dark, mostly. I don't have any answers. 

I wonder, though, would most of these internet bullies behave the same way in a real-life, face-to-face meeting? Would someone who disagreed with a movie or book review call the reviewer a "moron" right to their face? I'm guessing the majority of them would not. So, why do it in a blog comment? Because they can. Because there's a shield there: Anonymity. Yeah, maybe you fill out a form with a name and an email address in order to comment, but there's still no actual contact, no apparent reason to act respectfully toward the other person.

Right now the only weapons a person has is 'moderation' and ignoring the bully. What happens when you ignore a bully? They try harder. It becomes a 'Catch-22' situation that can easily spiral out of control. I don't like the possible answers, but I really don't like bullies.

Anyone have any ideas?

A Republican Who Supports Gay Marriage And Doesn

I'm not from New York. And I'm not a Republican. But right now, I'm very proud of a Republican from New York State. The Honorable Roy McDonald has restored my faith in humanity. I admire him. He is worthy of admiration.

A Republican Who Supports Gay Marriage And Doesn

He stood up against the party line and said "Enough!" He is doing what he's supposed to be doing. Its easy to uphold the rights of the strong, but difficult to help the weak secure those same rights. Democracy is NOT about making sure the strong continue to win. Its about making sure everyone has a chance to at least enter the playing field. Senator McDonald is doing his part to make for a more equal playing field.

Its very easy for us liberal types to lump all the conservatives together in one group and say that they're all the same. Hell, they do the same to us. But we know they're wrong about us, which pretty much makes it even money that we're wrong about them. And Sen. McDonald proves that. He said to hell with the party line and decided to stand up and fight for a group of people to get rights that they should already have. We need more people like him. I don't care what political party anyone belongs to, not really. What I care about is that those elected officials do what is right, not what is expedient. I want my elected officials to fight for my rights, which means they have to fight for the rights of everyone, whether I like them or not because my rights really won't mean a thing if someone else can't exercise the same.

Senator McDonald, thank you. Thank you for being an honorable, admirable person who believes that ALL Americans are entitled to equal rights.