A LIBERAL VIEW OF THINGS: A reason to yell
Sometimes, it is hard to keep promises to oneself. I promised myself I would remain calm, not get angry, stop ranting and become nicer to be around. Then I started watching the news and reading the paper. I threw open the window, stuck my head out and yelled, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!!!”
Those of you who have seen the movie "Network" know what this means. How in the world do TV networks justify airing whole segments on Rep. Anthony Wiener’s …well, you know what? How do high-paid millionaire news show hosts get away with ranting about twits and twerps in a presidential race that is 18 months away? Iowa caucus? Who cares? Do you really care which of the announced Republican candidates wants your money to stand up there and make a fool of himself or herself?
People I really care about have asked me to run for office so our local Republican “representatives” wouldn’t go unopposed on the ballot. After thinking it over, I began to wonder if they really liked me. I make a fool of myself easily enough, let alone running a political campaign around here as a Democrat. I didn’t see much redemption in losing 72 percent to 28 percent to any of these local people in state government. I’ve met them, and I don’t have the stomach to lose anything to them, not even a golf game. You’ll see what I mean when the Pedernales Electric Cooperative scandal and the draconian school district cuts finish spreading themselves over Burnet County.
Why is the media so in love with Sarah Palin? Can’t they see she is playing them like a violin? If they do, how do we the people justify spending time and money following this rubbish. The next time I hear that squeaky voice tell us about American values and hard work, I’m going to lose my most recent meal for sure. And our people are lapping this up like cats do cream! Why?
Before Congress passed the debt limit deal and President Barack Obama signed it Tuesday, the Republicans in the House of Representatives told the president that unless he favored cutting trillions of dollars from the federal budget, they wouldn’t vote for raising the debt ceiling. For those of you not familiar with this issue, if we hadn’t raised our debt ceiling, we would have started defaulting on our international loans. You know, like Greece is about to do. Maybe that’s the Republican way of playing “gotcha” with China since they hold most of our notes. Oh, and another thing: The universal currency is the U.S. dollar. What do you suppose would have happened to the economies in the rest of the world if we stopped paying our bills? Can you say, Great Depression II?
Not one single sentence coming from the Republicans talks about raising revenue by taxing the richest.
“Oh, no,” they say. “This is the wrong time to raise taxes.” Was it the right time to cut taxes for the rich while fighting two wars off the books, as well as giving away trillions to Big Pharma?
They go on to say, “Well, businesses won’t create jobs because of the uncertainty with the budget.” Who do you think is creating that uncertainty by being unremittingly against taxing corporate/banking America by closing loopholes and raising the income rate to pre-Bush II tax levels? Corporate/banking America is sitting on trillions of dollars of capital and they are uncertain? Uncertain about what? How much cash do you need to start feeling certain about something?
Well, I feel certain that as long as people keep electing these very corrupt people to public office, we are looking at the edge of the abyss of failure as a society.
Fifty-two percent of our registered voters stayed home because they were turned off by the ugliness of our political process, just like those who got elected hoped they would. With 30 percent of our eligible citizens not registered to vote, what else should we expect but corruption and incompetence from both major parties and certainly from the minor ones?
OK. That’s my yell. I’ll go back to being calm.
Turner is a retired teacher and industrial engineer who lives near Marble Falls. He is an independent columnist, not a staff member, and his views do not necessarily reflect those of The Tribune or its parent company. "The Voter’s Guide to National Salvation" is a newly published e-book from Turner. You can find it at www.barnesandnoble.com/ebooks. He can be reached by e-mail at vtgolf@zeecon.com.