I Just...What?

Sometimes when I drive, I like to listen to talk radio to stay awake. And since we don't have any new-fangled gizmo like 'Sirius satellite radio', that means Right Wing Yell Radio.

Because that's the whole show on the public airwaves. You know...the Liberal Media.

It sort of drifted in and out, but I finally found one that lasted for a good ten minutes before statticking away...The Michael Savage Show.

In ten minutes, I learned a few things.

At least I'm pretty sure I was learning, because every other sentence he said one of two things-

"You don't know this."

"This is something you don't understand."

So the first thing I learned was that Michael Savage is psychic and knows what I know and understand. Awesome.

And it must be true. He sounded very sure of himself.

I don't want to withhold this valuable information from you, so here it is, pretty much in the order presented, as I remembered to dictate it into my phone after manually closing my mouth that was hanging open in amazement.

-Atheists only believe in power. Atheists don't believe in tomorrow or an afterlife, so they feel they are free to do anything they want to without repercussion. Which is so weird, because *I'M* an Atheist and I do believe in tomorrow. Also, myself and all the other Atheists I know tend to treat this one life we have with MORE care and concern for others and tend to be MORE moral than someone who believes that they can do pretty much anything (no, wait- absolutely anything) and as long as they say, "I'm sorry" and give puppydog eyes to the Man in the Sky, they're totally cool. We have no 'spiritual loophole'- we're either good people or assholes and most of us choose to be good people...because it's the right thing to do- not to avoid burning in imaginary hell.

-This current administration is Atheist. That's why it's overstepped its power over and over again. Ahhh...cleverly disguised as a Christian family and cleverly using Executive Orders less than any other president in the history of Executive Orders. Nefarious.

-Israel is fighting for its life against Gaza, who keeps viciously attacking unprovoked. It's more than a regional war, tho- Israel as God's Chosen People are literally fighting for the future of the ENTIRE WORLD in a Judeo-Christian(?) vs. ISLAM battle and the ATHEISTS in the US who are pushing the LIBERAL One-World Order are sending poor little Israel to the Slaughter. I just...I can't. It's too insane. Gaza has NOTHING. They are trapped there and being decimated by an Israel that is armed to the teeth. I just...too much propaganda horror.

-The LIBERAL ATHEIST US government and its bastard media is 'DEMONIZING Vladimir Putin, who is our NATURAL ALLY in the war for a moral world'. Read that again. It's actually verbatim what he said. Again, slowly.

Ten minutes.

What if this sort of stuff was all I was exposed to? What if this, and Hannity, and Rush, and WorldNet Daily were my only sources of news? I'm surrounded by people like this and I can't get over it. They aren't bad people. But they swallow this shit hook, line, sinker, pole, fisherman AND BOAT. And if you try to put anything else in front of them that doesn't square with what they 'know', it just doesn't compute. Best case scenario is they look at you like you're an imbecile. Worst case is they'll tell you you're unAmerican and maybe need to move somewhere else.

Like where? America, land of the Free where everyone's voice and opinion counts? I'm already a citizen of that nation, thank you very much. Although more and more, 'living Blue in a Red State' is an exercise in courage/stupidity/futility.

This morning while drinking coffee, I had a brief online discussion regarding Robert Reich's latest column- should the US break up into different countries? Are we too far gone off either side to ever come back together?

All the vile bullshit Michael Savage vomited out onto the airwaves and I just typed out? That's 'truth' to a great many people. They hear it from their trusted sources and it's parroted from their pulpits and gets cemented in their heads that way and to question it gets tangled up in questioning God and lord knows we can't do THAT.

Lets talk for a moment about the refugees down on the border.

Here's what I read about that from the Right Wing just in the last hour and from just one thread-

"My sister said it takes $15,000 just to feed one of those kids till they get deported."

"I read that only 2% of the illegals are children, the others are gang members and adults who are just being released into our country."

Please note that this was in a conversation where the participants were actually grappling with the Christian humanitarian aspect of the refugees (although they can't bring themselves to refer to them as anything but 'illegals'), not your usual run of the mill Hate Crowd.

And they STILL couldn't do it- they still couldn't make the insurmountable leap from what they're being fed and what the real needs and issues are. They still spew out, "We need to take care of our own people first!" when...NO SHIT. Why are the two things mutually exclusive? They all need attending- the refugees, our homeless, our veterans, our children. All of it. None of it is right and we COULD afford it all if only we stopped being so damn afraid because we are being told to be afraid.

The very size and depth of their fear makes me afraid for our future as a nation indivisible.

I'm afraid.

I'm afraid that the internet made things worse instead of better. That instead of broadening people's horizons with learning different viewpoints and cultures, it gave the perfect platform to circle the wagons of isolationism- to burrow down in pockets of familiarity and stay there...vindicated by being surrounded only by those who think the same, look the same, hate the same.

I'm afraid that there is a huge population in the middle who have no clue. They don't want to think about things that are far away because it doesn't affect them, don't vote for anything other than president (if then) because they don't think it'll change anything anyway and it's SO HARRRRRRD to like, read up on issues and shit. So they coast, and ride the tide, and don't look up unless something finally directly affects them and it'll be too late. It'll be too fucking late.

I'm afraid that it's already too late.

Seriously Jacked Up

There are people on the borders crossing into America- the dream that is America.

Who are they? Central Americans, mostly, meaning that according to a law signed by GW Bush (one of his good ones) they cannot just be summarily re-deposited on the other side since their home country doesn't share a border with the US. Note the spelling of the word 'border'. It's not 'boarder' like 80% of the right-wing blogosphere is stating. Spellcheck won't catch that one, Bubba- some you gotta know on your own.

Why are they coming all at once? Must be
-Obama importing them to turn 'Merika brown
-Muslims sending 'em over (with MUSLIM PRAYER BLANKETS DISGUISED AS SOCCER JERSEYS) to bring 'Merika to her knees DEATH TO AMERICA
-George Soros bringing 'em in so they vote Democrat
-Vladimir Putin sprinkling them all with lethal germs and sending them here...an amorphous Trojan Horse of disease that will destroy the Devil America once and for alllllllll....!!!!

Actually, the truth (as it ususally is) is probably a lot more tame and boring. Oh, the circumstances aren't. Those are vile and horrifying. The countries these people (and they are 'people', they're not 'illegal aliens' like Mork or that thing who terrorized Sigourney Weaver)are coming from are, in fact, crumbling under the weight of crime and drugs and all sorts of things that just happened to be set in motion or abated by our self-same government here in the US of A. Weird, huh? Weird that when it becomes so onerous and dangerous to be there, those people should choose HERE to come. Huh.

No, the most likely scenario that I've heard is the one about the lawyer. Or group of lawyers. Somewhere in one of these dangerous places some lawyer(s) looked around and thought, "Damn. This sucks. If only there were a way to send people where it's safe(r) than here. Some way for them to not be considered illegal aliens, but asylum-seeking refugees because this place has become a shit-hole and these people WILL die if they stay here and that's sorta kinda the very definition of 'asylum-seeking refugee'."

And that would explain the border patrol agents being inundated with peaceful people presenting them with papers asking for help- asylum, if you will, instead of running like hell and going to ground to be part of America's Undocumented Alien population.

But it doesn't matter, really. Not to me, anyway because I'm a squishy goddamn liberal hippiechick socialist and I think crazy thoughts like
-Hey, look. People who need help. Lets help them.
-Lets help them now with their immediate needs and THEN proceed from there because
-Hey, look. PEOPLE who need help.

BUT THEY'RE BREAKING THE LAW WE CAN'T TAKE EVERYONE HOW WILL WE PAY FOR IT WE CAN'T TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN PEOPLE!

Not if they're applying for asylum, they're not. Just like that ridiculous German family who's been here for almost a decade saying, "We're being persecuted in Germany because we home school and they want to MAKE OUR CHILDREN ATTEND SCHOOL." Wow. Heinous. So, if they're homeschooling, why hasn't one of the subjects been PASSING THE US CITIZENSHIP TEST? And yet, people are fighting tooth and nail to keep this poor, oppressed family in the US.

We can't take everyone? Then we damn-well better sand blast that shit off of the Statue of Liberty.

We can pay for this AND take care of our own people by doing what we need to do anyway to remain solvent and civil-
-repeal Corporate Personhood and require them to pay their fair share instead of giving them loopholes and bailouts and tax advantages for screwing us over and taking their banking and jobs overseas.
-TAX THE CHURCHES
-Bring our troops home, stop our AGGRESSIVE invasion of the entire rest of the world that has shit we might want someday and dismantle the standing army. That's what the whole first part of the 2nd Amendment is really about- having a core of citizens who are TRAINED and can be called up to protect our borders. Period. Not letting anyone own and carry anything they want to. Not roving bands of assholes gathering on the border threatening to shoot children or abetting crusty old ranchers who want to graze public land for free because they've always done it (they've always broken the law, therefore...?) Trained to work together citizens...like Switzerland.

To the people screaming at these human beings who have risked everything to come here- shame on you. That is seriously jacked up.

To the people insisting that children be sent back into horrific places because "It's not our problem"- shame on you. That is seriously jacked up.

To anyone anywhere in America who's not 100% Native American and who is screaming for these people to be deported (and I'm looking straight at you, Ted Cruz- 'born in Canada to a Cuban' Ted Cruz) your ancestors came here...as immigrants, as refugees, as non-Americans. You think you just sprouted here from God's Own Seeds planted in this Fertile Soil of the Land He Made for You Because AMERICA? Shame on you. You are ignorant, and forgetful, and seriously jacked up.

To the people who say it's A-OK to keep a thumb on what American women do as far as personal health choices because 'abortion stops a beating heart', I say there are 55,000 beating hearts down on the border right now- and I'd reckon most of them are CHRISTIAN; you'd damn well better take a moment to think about what your Jesus would REALLY do. That guy who said, "Suffer the little children to come to me" and "Whenever you did for the least of these, you also did for me" and "Judge not lest you be judged" and all that stuff. If you can do that and STILL scream at these people, shame on you. Oh, and fuck you.

To everyone else, who wants to be human, and civil, and compassionate, I recommend Operation Matthew 25- started by the Dallas Catholic Diocese and being helped by other groups including one I'm in called What Happens In Texas- dedicated to turning Texas Blue and not especially faith-based but we all...every one of us see the absolute human NEED here and aim to fill it.

Because, my friends, THAT is what America used to be about.

My family and some of our friends will be helping organize the literal truckloads of donated items this Saturday in Dallas, but the San Antonio group needs some help so here's the link for that one-

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2MI5EIJ3IQKE2/ref=topnav_lists_2

See? You can be human and not even leave your chair. The Perfect American Charity.

I Do Not Think This Means What You Think It Means

It's a fact that not all gun nuts are also religious nuts, but it is also a fact that a lot of religious nuts are also gun nuts. You see 'em posing with their guns in one hand and a bible in the other all the damn time with big, shit-eating patriotic grins on their faces.

So here's why I'm laying this out here in words and everything. It's because the 'only-gun' crowd aren't paying attention to a damn thing except their 'news' sources and forums and all the places that keep them focused ONLY on guns and have a (gasp) tendency to blow everything up to way bigger than life-size for the benefit of the gun manufacturers so their readers/viewers will run right out and buy up MORE gun shit. Because they're coming to take it all. Any minute now.

Those who are busy squirreling away literal tons of ammo have no clue about anything else. Because nothing else matters. True answer when I asked my personal gun nut what he thought of the Hobby Lobby ruling. "Ummm...I don't know much about it. They said it was women bitching about not being able to get free condoms or some shit, right?"

Right.

Took a gander over at the Hobby Lobby fan page on Facebook. Surreal. For every question regarding the declarations by the owners of Hobby Lobby of this being 'totally about religious freedom' there is the same cut/paste stock answer from Hobby Lobby.


"Why does Hobby Lobby include stocks for the manufacturers of the Evil Four 'abortifactant' types of contraception in their 401K and other retirement plans?"

The Greens have no desire to deny access to contraceptives or interfere with the personal reproductive choices of Hobby Lobby employees. They object to being forced to violate their moral conscience by paying for a small subset of contraceptives that the FDA states may terminate life. They still offer 16 of 20 FDA-approved contraceptives covered under ACA as part of Hobby Lobby's comprehensive employee health plan. The remaining four, which the Green family objects to, are still readily available and employees are free to obtain and use them at their discretion.

"Why does 95% of the crap sold at Hobby Lobby come from China, a country well-known for its VIGOROUS, government-enforced family planning policies?"

The Greens have no desire to deny access to contraceptives or interfere with the personal reproductive choices of Hobby Lobby employees. They object to being forced to violate their moral conscience by paying for a small subset of contraceptives that the FDA states may terminate life. They still offer 16 of 20 FDA-approved contraceptives covered under ACA as part of Hobby Lobby's comprehensive employee health plan. The remaining four, which the Green family objects to, are still readily available and employees are free to obtain and use them at their discretion.

"Why did Hobby Lobby not have a problem with providing contraceptive care until the ACA was enacted?"

The Greens have no desire to deny access to contraceptives or interfere with the personal reproductive choices of Hobby Lobby employees. They object to being forced to violate their moral conscience by paying for a small subset of contraceptives that the FDA states may terminate life. They still offer 16 of 20 FDA-approved contraceptives covered under ACA as part of Hobby Lobby's comprehensive employee health plan. The remaining four, which the Green family objects to, are still readily available and employees are free to obtain and use them at their discretion.

Here's where the gun nuts smile and say, "See? Silly wimmen- they don't want to take ALL your contraceptives, only a few of the ones they think are really bad."

Does that not sound familiar to ANY GUN NUT AT ALL??? ANY OF THEM??? Here. Lemme simple it up for ya-

"See? Silly gun nuts- they don't want to take ALL your guns, only a few of the ones they think are really bad."

Now how does it sit?

Wait. Where did they all go? They all hollered, "SLIPPERY SLOPE!!!" grabbed their precious armaments and went to ground like gophers when a big bird-shaped shadow cruises across the meadow.

Because that's the thing, here (as I patiently explained to my own gun nut).

Yes, this is about the fact that your employer has no right to tell you what you do on your off-time or how to make your personal decisions, unless your personal decisions include taking drugs while working or being an embezzler. If it doesn't affect your WORK, it doesn't affect THEIR BUSINESS. Period.

Because especially in a company the size of Hobby Lobby, the personal philosophy of the owners is completely separate from the business entity. The owner isn't traded on the stock exchange; the business is. The owner isn't handing out contraceptives; that is included in the health insurance the company provides to its employees as a benefit PAID FOR AT LEAST PARTIALLY BY THE EMPLOYEES THEMSELVES. "Here- I will allow you to have this tray of cookies, I will allow you to PAY for this tray of cookies, but you may not eat any of the chocolate chip ones, because I think the Devil invented chocolate chips therefore you, my employee, may not eat any of the chocolate chip cookies that you have paid for."

But lets not even consider the FACT that Hobby Lobby did in fact cover ALL the forms of contraceptives until the ACA came along, or the FACT that their retirement funds do include stock in the very companies that manufacture said evil devices and drugs, and that they for SURE get most of the shit sold in their stores from the very large country that says a family may only have one child...no matter how that's accomplished- in effect Hobby Lobby and their customers are funding the largest number of abortions on the planet.

Lets look at the bigger picture- one that was only hypothetical for about 27 minutes after the ruling.

The MEN who voted in Hobby Lobby's favor in this piece of shit decision said, "It's OK- don't worry- it's very limited. We made sure of that."

Unfortunately, that hasn't stopped at LEAST half a dozen companies from immediately before the ink was dry jumping on the "I think this is icky, so I'm not paying for it" bandwagon.

Surprise. Surprise. Surprise.

The power of the corporation has been increased exponentially. All those previous 'may not discriminate on the grounds of...' laws and whatnot? Now moot. All someone has to say is, "I think this is icky and my religion doesn't believe it" and it's HANDS OFF for trying to enforce anything.

Gay people? Icky.

Women? Icky. (because we bleed every month and are unclean and shit)

Minorities? Icky.

And just in health care- vaccinations? Blood transfusions? All VERY icky according to some religion or other.

I do not think it was a coincidence that just prior to the Hobby Lobby ruling, the SCOTUS decided that making protesters stay 35 feet away from the entrance to women's clinics was unconstitutional on the grounds that the sidewalks are public property. So now ANY woman going to say Planned Parenthood for say AN ANNUAL CHECKUP AND PAP SMEAR can be screamed at, bullied, and have photographs of dead babies shoved in their faces because...freedom.

***Just a little aside to mention that the Occupy movement also used public spaces, and were met with pepper spray, beatings and jail time. Just sayin'...

I think it was an ice-breaker. It emboldened the Religious Right *(far Right) so that they'd be good and jubilant for the Hobby Lobby decision- a little snack before the main course if you will. With such stars in their eyes they had no holding back to think this through...all they can see is "GOD wins AGAIN! America is being TAKEN BACK- PRAISE JESUS!!!"

But it's a precedent now.

Religious belief now trumps the Constitution (where it says there is to be NO state religion) and the God of the Christian bible can override anything anywhere for any reason.

But several states have enacted laws (?) saying that Sharia Law can never be the Law of our Land.

Doesn't matter now. The SCOTUS has just ensured that a holy book is not only above the Law, it IS the Law.

And the Law is to be applied equally in every case and every situation.

Chocolate chip cookie, anyone?