Stupidity Reigns Supreme

Look, I'm no Einstein, so this might sound a little like the pot calling the kettle black, but I've come to the conclusion that we have far, far too many really stupid people in America.  Here's an example.  According to one poll that I saw yesterday only 20% of Americans view the Republicans latest attempt at health care reform, the Graham-Cassidy bill, favorably.  That's just one out of every five Americans (hey, maybe I am Einstein).  No matter how many ways you look at those figures, you've got to come away with an understanding that the American people don't much like the Graham-Cassidy bill.

Now, you would think, that in a Democratic Republic like the United States, where representatives are elected by the people, for the people, to serve the people, that those folks in the Senate would have the brains to say, "Hmmm, the people don't much like this bill, maybe we should come up with something else."   But do they?  

Heck no, what they do is to continue to sing the praises of a bill that will take health care coverage away from millions, including, I'm thinking, most of the 20% who say they like the bill ( I refer you to my opening statement) and will give huge tax breaks to the wealthiest people in the country.  You would think that these senators who are pushing the bill forward in spite of its extremely low approval ratings would understand that forcing something so unpopular onto the people who don't want it would cost them in the long run.  Wouldn't you think, if you were them, that doing such a thing might result in lost votes?  Like, maybe after the next election they might be out on the street looking for a real job? 

So, who are the stupid ones here, the people or the Senators in question? The answer is, it's not the Senators.  They know exactly what they're doing and it's not necessarily because they're smart.  It's because they are devious, dishonest, hypocritical and corrupt. (I have a friend, named Steve, who likes to call them things like selfish, mean spirited, dick nosed asshats).  You see, they are smart enough, and greedy enough, to know that it's not the will of the people that they need to have on their side, it's the flow of big money that comes to them from those same billionaires and corporate entities that expect to profit so greatly by the passage of the evil legislation.

You see, we are not any longer truly a Democratic Republic.  We began to lose our grip on that noble form of government back in the 1980's during the Reagan administration and "Trickle Down" (voodoo) economics.  Since then we have become an Oligarchy, a nation ruled by money, or more accurately, by the people with the money.  Republican lawmakers know one simple truth and it works so well for them......"take care of the guys with the money and they will take care of you" .  Old man John Q. Public be damned. They know that he can't do them any good anymore; he's yesterday's news, no longer relevant.  Useless to them, and that is why they present for a vote, such a blatantly evil bill that, if it became law, would do serious, serious harm to the poor, the sick the disabled and the elderly.  Those are the people that the Bible refers to as "the least of these".

In my opening paragraph I said that too many Americans are stupid.  Here's why I said that.  Whether the Graham-Cassidy bill ever becomes law or not those twenty percent that support it, even if they lose their health care coverage because of it, will continue to vote republican. Another 20 to 30 percent of the eligible voters in this country (these are people who never liked the bill in the first place and will be hurt by it just as much as those people in the first 20 percent group) will vote to return these same law makers into office the next time they are up for reelection.   You see, at least half the people in the country are getting royally screwed by a corrupt system, one that they have the power to change with their collective votes, but they never will, and the beat goes on.

If you knew a guy who continually shot himself in the foot every time he cocked his rifle and never realized that it might be a good idea to point the barrel in another direction, you'd probably call him stupid, wouldn’t you?  I rest my case.

On Exercising Constitutional Rights

"To Sin By Silence When They Should Protest Makes Cowards of Men"  - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

To sin by silence, when we should protest, Makes cowards out of men.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ellawheele135434.html

To sin by silence, when we should protest, Makes cowards out of men.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ellawheele135434.html

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” -  The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

Colin Kaepernik, and now a host of others, have been exercising their right to peacefully protest, a right guaranteed to them by the first amendment.  Unfortunately the “wanna-be” dictator in the Oval Office has shown, once again, his lack of understanding of the Constitution and his utter disdain for the principles of fairness and justice that it stands for. 

This began as a protest against a rash of unarmed black men being killed by overzealous police officers, in other words a protest against racial injustice, something that has plagued this country for some 240 years. It has nothing to do with disrespecting the flag and it certainly has nothing to do with these NFL players hating America. My guess is, like me, they love this country but, because they do, they feel the need to speak out when they see injustice, just like any other citizen might. After all, it is a right that they have guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. 

Attempting to frame this as disrespecting the flag or the military is dishonest and ignorant and shows some degree of brainwashing by right wing propaganda. Stop being mislead. It's time that we all get serious about the real problems facing this country. Peaceful protest against injustice is not one of them.....the injustice itself is.

Personally, I'm not a fan of protesting during the National Anthem and I have respect for the flag and what it represents, but it is just a symbol. I am a veteran myself, although not a veteran of war.  I do, however, believe that our veterans fought, and many died, in order to preserve, not the flag, but what it stands for. Our country was founded on the self evident truth that all are created equal, and that all of us have certain rights.  Those rights are pledged and affirmed in the Constitution of the United States.  Among those rights, as stated in the first amendment, are the right to freedom of speech and the right to express grievances.   

Therefore I respect the right for people to protest peacefully in any way that they feel they can draw attention to their grievance.  I think that's what Colin Kaepernik was doing when he first took a knee. He publicly stated as much. It is his right and it doesn't offend me. In fact, it perhaps could be argued that it is his duty as a citizen of this free country to do so. I am much more offended by those who would take that right away from him.

As twentieth century writer Robert A. Heinlein, stated it "Patriotism is not 'my country right or wrong'; patriotism means loving the ideals for which America stands and having the courage to speak up when these ideals are distorted...".

Our bully in chief in the White House only served to escalate the protests (as we saw on Sunday) and further divide the nation by his outrageous, angry, crazed speech on Friday. He is dividing us like nothing ever before and he’s doing it on purpose just to fire up his base and bask in their cheers like the attention seeking narcissist that he is. Unfortunately many sheep are following. This does not bode well for our future.