Can’t Fool Me

You’ve no doubt been too distracted by the news that we now understand the escape mechanism of cockroaches to worry too much about all the evidence that Americans will sell their birthright as citizens in a democracy to whoever’s got the big bucks.  Californians were talked out of the plan to add another dollar in taxes on cigarettes to fund cancer research.   It only took money from the tobacco companies to pound home the Republican mantra "government is bad, government it bad."  Nobody asked why they want the federal government to spend trillions on war, and to make same-sex marriage and abortion illegal on the national level.  When it comes to pushing the religious views of authoritarian religionists, big government is key.  Cancer research at the expense of big tobacco corporations?  Nothing doing.

Pass the Kool-Aid.  As Adlai Stevenson once said, "The trouble with Americans is that they haven’t read the minutes of the previous meeting."  Just look at the first two comments in the San Francisco Chronicle –  at SFGate, its online website, following the coverage of the failure of this initiative:

 … I am glad this initiative failed. It was supported by the voters because they have totally lost confidence in the government. We don't want to give the government another dime for ANYTHING, even cancer research, because we don't trust them to spend the money responsibly. Plain and simple.

and

 Legislating behavior is becoming paramount...it's the old saying,"we know what's best for you".  Sorry, but "I" know what's best for me and do not need the govt. input on how I live my life.

I know what’s best for me.  Smoke more.  Research cancer less.  I’m an American.  Can’t fool me.

Money persuaded the folks in Wisconsin that it’s best to remove collective bargaining rights from unions.  There is the argument, of course, that union members were getting paid too much was already, compared to bankers.  It was bankers, right? that they were comparing them to?   I’m an American.  Can’t fool me.

But explain to me how it is that 37% of union members voted Republican, against their own interest.  I know.  They were throwing themselves on their swords for corporate America, knowing that if we send money to the top it will trickle down.  That’s been proven the past thirty years, right?  I’m an American.  Can’t fool me.

Worst of all, explain to me how it is that after George W. Bush bankrupts the country, shills for the military industrial complex and lies us into war, his party was able to stop all kinds of legislation that would have fixed things and gotten the economy rolling again, and then blame the Democrats for not getting anything done.  They’ve been so successful at pushing this lie that they are now ahead in the polls and it’s beginning to look like they may buy their way back into office again.  Romney raised $76 million last month compared to Obama’s $60 million, and that’s a lot of airtime to persuade people government is bad and Republicans are good guys.   Gee, maybe I should send another five dollars.  

 I see the Birthers are still going strong.   You know about Donald Trump, right?  But do you remember OrlyTaitz, the leader of the pack of Birthers?   She ran again this election, this time for Senator against Diane Feinstein, where she came in fifth, out of 24, with more than 100,000 votes.   Where there’s smoke there’s fire, they say.   Can’t fool them.

And this just in.  More people die from TV sets and other furniture falling on them than from terrorist attacks.

That ought to give us perspective.

Nope, you can’t fool us Americans.  We know Obama was born in Kenya, Darwin was a communist, global warming is a hoax, Republicans have the best plan for the little guy, Jesus can cure homosexuality, you can’t have enough nuclear submarines, the Walton Family deserves to have as much money as 30,000,000 of their fellow Americans because their daddy worked for it.  Actually,  that’s not fair.   25 of those 30 million have no net worth at all.   What am I supposed to do about that – give them my money?

 I think all this class warfare talk about who has money and who doesn’t leads us nowhere. 

We’d be much better off putting our efforts into legislation requiring our TV sets and other furniture be bolted to the floor.