One of the right wing's most long established propaganda tools is the myth of government waste and inefficiency. In the Internet age this has meant all those hoary urban legends of welfare queens and more Ag Dept. employees than farmers and $400 toilet seats show up with irritating regularity in my inbox. I enjoy a good laugh as well as anyone. But it's only fun until the country starts electing people who use this crap as a base for serious policy decisions. So I have started pushing back ever since I got a stupid email saying the ACLU wouldn't let my nephew the Marine pray. In this effort, Snopes.com is your friend. Below the fold is my latest response.
I received this email this morning...
>Consider These 3 Thoughts:
>
>(1) Zero Gravity:
>When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered
>that ball-point pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat this
>problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion developing a pen
>that writes in zero gravity, upside-down, on almost any surface including
>glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 300 C. The
>Russians used a pencil. Your taxes are due again - - enjoy paying them.
>
>(2) Our Constitution:
>They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we
>just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, and
>it's worked for over 200 years. And, we're not using it anymore.
>
>(3) Ten Commandments:
>The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a Courthouse is
>that you cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit
>Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges
>and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment.
>
After 30 seconds at snopes.com I was able to respond...
Well, Number 1 is just wrong...
http://www.snopes.com/...
And as for number 3, lawyer, judge and politician bashing is fun until we elect a president and congress that believes all that crap is true. Then we get "stellar" "legal" opinions such as "If the president does it, then by definition it's not illegal." Anyone who disagrees and points to the Constitution is well, just another of those wacked-out lawyers, judges or politicians. As to my own opinion, I will defer and offer a quote...
Politics is not about power.
Politics is not about money.
Politics is not about winning for the sake of winning.
Politics is about the improvement of people's lives. It's about advancing the cause of peace and justice in our country and the world.
Politics is about doing well for the people.
Paul Wellstone
As for number 2, given the goober who sent us to Iraq in the first place, the people of Iraq would be better off with the instruction manual for a Kitchaid Dishwasher than anything Bozo had a hand in.