Rights for Everybody, Except You.

I'm almost certain it was Rachel Maddow who brought up this point: If rights were really rights, how can you decide, all of the sudden they're up for grabs?  If it is my "right" to exist, to pursue happiness, liberty, etc, then there ought to be no exception whatsoever to that deal.  I think it's important to note that no group of oppressed people has ever gained rights denied by their oppressor without both a long fight, and some power transfer from the oppressor to the oppressed. 

The big bully in the playground who is always stealing the lunch money from the nerdy kid (OK, me), always wins.  Because the bully is stronger than the other kid, the weaker kid loses.  The bullied do not get to decide on what terms they may be bullied.  Albeit a farcical example, I maintain that it is a prime example for what is going on today in civil rights issues, women's rights, and bi-partisanship politics as a whole.  The money never belonged to the bully, and the bully's own lunch money was never at risk to begin with.  Against all good judgement whatsoever, I watched a clip of Ann Coulter regarding the repeal of DADT on YouTube.  "Putting girls and gays in the military, we're not taking the military seriously," are actually words that came flying out of her mouth. 

Warning! This clip may cause you to have a severe anxiety/rage episode, before playing, remove all sharp objects from arm's length.

Girls and gays are going to ruin the military?  The problem I have with this is that when you have someone whose function is to say outlandish things, and you are passing that off as news, the uninformed people who watch "entertainment news" are not even close to getting the actual truth. 

I must also add as a disclaimer that I'm an avid Rachel Maddow Show fan, because even though I'm super-liberal, the information she presents is the truth, not just some insane opinions. 

But back to the clip.  They're saying that most of the people who wanted DADT to be repealed are against the military.  Seriously?  Most of the people who fought so hard for DADT are or were IN the military!  How can someone be a vocal advocate for a policy that discriminates against who they are?! 

For the purposes of continuing with my analogy of the schoolyard bully, the LGBT service members who are subjected to unfair, discriminatory policy never tried to take away the rights of the heterosexist patriarchal oppressors.  They just did their jobs, lied about who they were, faced losing their careers, and died on the battlefield along with their straight peers.  The bully's rights were never in question, so why should the other kid's?

*It is also important to mention that I am also vehemently against bullying, and that in the end, the bully almost always ends up divorced, overweight, unhappy, and with a terrible comb-over. 

Press My Button...

I found this button for sale on www.zazzle.com for about $2.00. It pretty much sums up everything that is wrong with politics today. Get your religion out of my Constitution. Get your nonsense out of my elections. If you really want to support fully a government representative of the people, GET A FREAKING CLUE!!! Help find people jobs, do something for equal rights for all, and for the love of all that is sane, please stop finding candidates who fit nearly every diagnostic criteria of the DSM-IV-TR. (That's the checklist of symptoms for psychiatrists to diagnose mental illnesses)

I am now considering running for US Congress for PA. I will just be an insane person, then when I clearly win the support of Sarah Palin, the Teabaggers, and so on, I will just turn back into the proverbial pumpkin of sane and democratic representation.

You remember that, right? That time when the politicians were voted in not by who bought their campaigns, or selected by god, or whomever was the loudest, craziest voice in the mental ward, but by who best represented the registered voters. I feel like a revolutionary. Instead of being "stuck on stupid" I feel like if the voice of the constituency changes, so then should the voice of the public servant.

I believe whole-heartedly in the concept of democracy. We do not have that. Not even close. What we have is a giant puppy-mill that turns out celebrities-turned "politicians" who represent a class of Americans who are neither the majority, nor by all rights, probably mentally competent.

The mere fact that we are little-by-little willing to turn over money and attention to crazy people says specifically that we are no better. We are becoming a nation of insane people who watch CNN like it is MTV. Remember when CSPAN was really boring, and all they did in the houses of Congress were vote on bills, balance budgets, and you could still fall asleep happily.

That was nearly ten national disasters, two terms of Dubya, two wars, and the biggest economic deficit since the Great Depression-ago. Remember when? Ah, when the scariest thing to think of was The Exorcist? Now the scary things are home foreclosures, candidates who are no more qualified for politics than I am (which I am NOT), and whether or not our planet will still be spinning at the right temperature and position after 2012.

Apocalypse withstanding, this is a plea for ANYONE who has not yet registered to vote. Please register and vote. Vote for someone who is capable of dealing with the tough answers, not someone who would make a fantastic cover of US Weekly.