Um... politics?

Everyone has an opinion about politics. To be honest, I don't care what your views are. I have my own, and I'm sure you don't care much about them. Alas, I'll give you my opinion, anyway.

Are you a Republican? Democrat? Libertarian? Who really cares?! They are all the same in the most fundamental way. The political party's are supposed to set up a distinction between differing views and values. They do not. Granted, they verbalize motto's and point out the failings of the other party's. To what end? They are all con men and women. Yeah, yeah. Everyone says that but we always elect the ones with the brightest smiles and most expensive suits.

Who was the most recently elected honest politician? Hint: He moved to Canada after his term ended, out of disgust. Ventura. The wrestler. lol Why would I possibly consider him honest and Obama not? He was willing to do the right thing for the people that elected him regardless of what it did for his career. I am not saying I agree with him or his views. Or disagree. The one point I will admit to agreeing upon is his view that politicians are corrupt to their core. The level of corruption is debatable, as is the reasons behind the corruption. Good people do bad things and bad people do good things. What I am saying is, I define corruption as doing something only to personally profit from the action.

The standard practice of politicians is to prepare for the next election starting the moment they win the last. They make "deals", pay off "debts", and do whatever is necessary to secure their place. Why not just "do the right thing"? No, that wouldn't keep the money flowing into their pockets. And who do you think they are looking out for? Don't be naive. The bigger your bank account is, the better your chances are to get their ear. There is only a small percentage of the voting public that anyone would consider rich. Yet, 90%+ of all the legislation passed, is to the benefit of the rich. Hmm. Funny how that works. Do you think if you had 3 children, a house in foreclosure, and both parents laid-off work, that you would get any attention whatsoever? Only enough to get them out of the waiting room so they don't dirty up the furniture.

It is my understanding that the US government's responsibility is to ALL citizens. If that is the case, why do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? You can argue that everyone has the same opportunities and I would have to smack you in the face with your own ignorance. I shall give an example, for the wealthier readers. Go to any tourist destination. Look around. Alright! Your in a very nice resort with people waiting on you hand and foot. The staff seems happy and eager to please. Now, go out to the staff parking lot. That's the one way out back with all the beat up old vehicles in it. The one that typically looks like a scrap yard. Do you think those people want cars like that? That need to get a jump start on cold days, just so they can go home? Go ahead, peek in a few windows. Look at the gas gauges. Most will either be on, or near empty. Not because they are trying to save the planet by making their cars light, so use less fuel. lol The average person can't afford to fill their gas tank more than 1-2 times per pay period. When was the last time a politician, or the rich citizens they represent, only put $5 in their tank, because they needed to buy food to get through until the next pay check?

Let us get back to the topic. I can rant for days about inequality. How about another example of politicians only helping the wealthy? The Federal Bail-out Plan. How much money was set aside for this plan? I seem to remember it being quite the sum. Let's use the money to bail out the insurance companies. The banks that made bad loans. The "Big Three". The credit companies. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. But, aren't these people the CAUSE of the problems? Better to just say that the root cause is the consumer that made uninformed decisions. Everyone buying a house, car, stocks, etc. should have a full knowledge of the laws and blah blah blah. When it is time to make a financial decision, people rely upon, and trust, the brokers. We expect loan officers and people in that type of job, to be honest and to look out for the best interests of the people hiring them. They do not expect, or even imagine, the financial institutions to be raping them of everything they have worked so hard for. Yet, who was bailed out? The federal government gave all the taxpayer money to the people that stole from the American citizens. That is like paying the mugger that stole the last $50 from you another $50, because he spent it all gambling.

I admit to not remembering the dollar amount of the bail-out. Why would I? I won't be helped with it. Tho, in my opinion, the money should have been divided evenly between all citizens over the age of 18. Don't divide it according to income. If the amount is 1.7 trillion, that seems close, how much would that be for each person over the age of 18? How much would it help to put money back into the economy if they got the money? If every person 18+ received $20k, the people in debt would be able to pay off debt. Save their houses. Keep their cars. Put money into investments...

Why wouldn't politicians look to bail out the economy this way? Because, by giving more money to the top 10% will have a trickle down effect? That is what they would have us believe. The average person is nothing but an ant to the wealthy and politicians. When an elephant or donkey eats, what trickles down? Scraps not worth having and poop. That is my opinion, voiced with whats left of my right to free speech.

From what I've seen, politicians would like to return the United States to the feudal system. That way, the workers don't have anything and the rulers don't have to quibble about taking what little we have. I admit it has merit. They will no longer have to take bribes, return favors, and blackmail to keep their places. We wouldn't have to delude ourselves into thinking we actually elected who we wanted into office. Who outside of Chicago had heard of Obama prior to the elections? I'm not against Obama. I wanted him to get elected. For one reason. He is not rich and white with a family history of raping the nation and it would be good press in the world market. Yeah, I wanted him to get elected because he's black and the world would, might, start believing we really do practice equality. It is completely beside the point that the only difference between him and any other politician is his skin color. He hasn't done anything concrete to help the nation aside from pandering to the rich and powerful, like every other president before him. What are the chances Obama will end his presidency with the same level of wealth he entered it? The federal, state, and local governments are saying how many cuts they are making to the budgets. Sacrifices, they call them. Cuts in education, health care, welfare. Who are they sacrificing? Not what, who.

Congress has made a very public statement concerning the retirement packages of motor company employees and corporate execs. Look at the retirement packages of members of government. I'm not talking about the guy that sweeps the hallways in the Capital Building. Our Representatives, senators, judges, etc. What do their retirement packages look like? How much money would be put back into the coffers if they took the same cut to their retirement as the GM employees? Better yet, gave up their government retirement. Judges I can understand having a retirement package. They have the job a lot longer. Imagine working for 2 years and getting free health, dental, vision care for life. Receive full wages, for life. Not to mention all the paid vacations with nearly unlimited perks.

This entry to my blog could be endless. To me, the daily practices of our government officials are criminal. Not illegal. The people that wrote the laws regarding the legality of these practices are the ones committing the crimes. We continue to elect and support them. Why? Because we are afraid to make a stand. If the citizens of the United States stood our ground, the military would be called in to quell the serfs. lol Simply put, the rich would point to the average person and tell the government to take care of them, or they will have them replaced. If we all voted for people we KNOW would behave in our best interests, the people we tried to elect wouldn't pass the "security screening".

In the political arena, the words Honest and Corrupt have become interchangeable. Some may consider this blog entry to be a rant, it is not. Merely an observation, bluntly given, of the workings of our government. Do I think things will change? Not at all. I believe things will actually get worse until our way of government implodes upon its self.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to pay your taxes. They go toward making this country a better place for our children.

HA! Whatever...

Yeah, first blog entry. I'm not big on proper grammar... hell, most times I probably won't bother to capitalize. You'll get used to it. Or not. lol

Ok. Why do this? I need an outlet for venting and complaining about the way things are. It is possible you will find much of it either funny, agree with it, or feel I'm just a cry baby. Whichever, I find most things in life laughable. Sometimes it's easier to laugh than consider the stupidity involved.

To begin, I am a 36yr old married guy, with a son, cat, and dog. Had a rough life by most peoples standards. Divorced parents, poverty, homelessness, prison(yeah), etc. Regardless, I try to have a positive outlook on Life. But there are just some times ya gotta say, "Wtf?!".

For instance, road rage. I live by the motto: Common Decency and Respect for Others. (Haven't always, but things change when ya start thinking...) Road Rage. Have to use cap's. People are actually proud of this. They charge through traffic, cutting people off, tailgating, honking their horn... "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!? MOVE IT!!!!" ... ... Do you really think the problem is with the OTHER people? Just one of these people on their way home from work causes every third driver they pass to become enraged. If that isn't bad enough, they are both aware and proud of the fact they flipped out worse than anyone else they passed/cut off. How do I know? You don't honestly think they act that way on a first date with some hotty. They go to the airport to get granny and scream in a complete loss of sensibility at traffic? Nah, they know what they are doing and do it willfully.

You're most likely one of those people. Aren't you? Come on, admit it! Be proud of it. Might as well. For the most part, it's a safe way to unleash all your frustrations. Right? Idiots. lol What do you think your kids think of you when your screaming at that guy ahead of you? You wonder why kids talk back, get in fights at school, go nuts with guns and knives. You are showing your kids that uncontrolled rage is cool. If you can't control yourself on the 30 minute drive from work to home, how do you expect them to act? I mean, it's cool to yell and scream and say that if that guy stops you're going to get out and kick his/her butt. Kid's assume you will and should do just that. You've been showing them it's proper every day. So, they take that step and you say, "I don't know what drove them to do that!". Like I said, idiots.

Maybe I went too fast for you. I drive the speed limit' everywhere. Would you get ticked off at me if I happened to be ahead of you? More than likely. Would you yell at me? Honk? Tailgate? Pass me as soon as you could and cut it close pulling back in to teach me a lesson? I'll admit, it'll teach me something. That your one of the worst drivers in that area. I know. I'm a jerk for thinking that. You HAVE to be a better driver... You are going faster and getting to the next stop light quicker. Of course, my panicking wife and 4yr old in the back seat don't share your inflated opinion of yourself. How could anyone consider you to be anything but a great driver? You push your vehicle to it's very limits every minute you are on the road. Only a great driver would do that. Right? Idiot. lol

Yes, I tend to laugh at things like that. Stupid people do stupid things. Humor centers around the idiotic. I admit that I am not perfect. I have, myself yelled at people in traffic. Typically, it was at people that drive like this. I do not see any point in acting like a psycho at any point of any day. I would like car manufacturers install "rage" triggered cameras in cars, so you can show all your friends your latest exploits of road rage. Not to mention, let you see how stupid you are acting. Very few people look cool screaming with veins popping out of their eyeballs.

Anyway, the next time you're weaving in and out of traffic and getting ticked at the people in your way, think. Not about what you want to do to the driver ahead of you. Think how you would act if you had a hotty in the car with you, going out on a first date. Act according to that. Sure, you get irritated. Then you consider how awesome it is to be in the same vehicle as that hotty. Going somewhere nice. Happy thoughts, people. They may not cause you to defy gravity, but they can make your days a bit less stressful. All that rage you think your releasing isn't making you feel better. Rage discolors the way you look upon the world. It causes you to criticize everything to the exclusion of all other emotions. You don't expunge rage by releasing it continually. You just open yourself to it more readily. Life has enough stress for the average person. Why add to it? Slow down to the flow of traffic and relax.

Think about things that make you feel good about your life.

Think about what you are going to complain about in your blog tomorrow.