There are one or two things that some folk need setting straight about.
I encounter them on various social media, and in my local community, and so do you.
They post stupid shit born of ignorance and/or spite, and I'm getting very tired of them so let's go sub-squiggly and find a few answers
First up are all those pig-ignorant pictures and quotes decrying the re-distribution of wealth. You have seen them, they talk of punitive taxes and suggest that if we give handouts, some other citizen has to give up his wages to pay for it.
Selfish bastards, every one of them. Not just selfish, and "low-information" is way too kind. Thick as two short planks nailed together is much more accurate. So when they appear on your wall, hit them with their ignorant rantings ....
Perspective: All we have suggested is that we return to prosperity, when the top rate of tax was 40%, only 4% more than it is now. 4% ... we are arguing over 4%, and only if you are getting more than $20 000 PER MONTH!!! That's not Communism, that's justice. 40% would still be the lowest top rate of tax for two generations.
If you are not personally earning TWENTYTHOUSANDFUCKINGDOLLARS per month, then you are being robbed by those who are, so open your eyes and quit with your nonsense.
The President is American ..... deal with it.
Kansas is not American ... get used to it ... which I know is grossly unfair to Progressives who have the misfortune to live among teh stupid, so I offer this ...
The great state of Kansas does not deserve the leaders it elects. Neither, by the way, does my own state of Oklahoma. It is small comfort that things may have to get a good deal worse before the addled brain cells of the electorate catch on to the fact that they are being taken for complete mugs by racist, homophobic, misogynistic theocrats.
They have used fear and racism to divide natural allies, and they have kept the electorate poor quite deliberately. Tell me honestly. What do you have to fear from the black guy living in grinding poverty just down the street? Or the many minority citizens filling the jails to over-flowing? How are they a threat? They can't even walk down the street without being harrassed by the cops.
So, when the stupid hits your social media, or your Thanksgiving dinner conversation, just ask the question .... What has a black person, an American citizen just like you, ever done that has harmed you?
How did that gay couple ... the ones with the cute dog who live on the corner ... how did they affect your marriage? No, really, I want to know. You think that marriage is between one man and one woman ... why? Try to remind folk that no one has suggested that gay marriage should be made compulsory, and everyone agrees that the local 1st Baptist Minister should not be compelled to marry them. What? You think they even want to go to your Church? Really? Are you really that dumb?
While we are on the subject of homophobia ... It is NOT a phobia. You are not scared of gay people, you are just being an asshole.
Mitt Romney is not fit to be President of the United States of America. He is not fit to be President of the local School Board. I know it, all Democrats know it. The media knows it and so do you. I know you are a registered Republican. I know you think that the sun rises and sets when Saint Ronnie the Great Deficit Creator tells it to ... and I also know you hate Romney almost as much as I do. Truth be told, I don't actually hate him, but he scares the bejeesus out of me. The thought of him being woken at three am by anyone other than his stock broker should be something that terrifies us all.
Mr Boehner .... Where are the fucking jobs? That is the only question I have for him. When he answers it I will think of another.
Congressman Ryan ... My wife teaches math ... You just flunked her class. Sarah Palin was a completely shite pick for VeePee, but at least she told a good "lipstick" joke.
Really people, I could rant a while about the Congressman, but there is little need. No one on my Facebook has mentioned him so the least said the better. If anyone on yours squeezes in a mention, just ask them the date that factory in Wisconsin closed. That should shut them up for a while.
Scott Pelley .... Love ya dude but tonight? Really. You showed me a Poll where the President had a three point lead (a lowball poll, I might add), and the Poll had a 3 point margin of error. Then you said the result was showing "right in the middle of the MOE". Now correct me if I am wrong, but even if Romney got all of that margin, he would at best only draw level .... When the two of us are sharing a cake, and we decide to divide it into two equal halves, then you will cut, and I will choose. You have it in you to be a good journalist, but you need to get back to writing your own stuff and not let the corporate heads of CBS write it for you, because it makes you look like a dick.
WE ALL PAY TAXES. Yes, we do. The poorer you are, the more tax you pay as a proportion of your income. Quit bitching about being one of the 53%. Poor bastard ... you are complaining about being better off than half the population? Just remember that you pay a smaller proportion of your income in tax than the poor people who are somehow a threat to your very existence. You might, if you were smart, turn your ire on the 1% of the population that gets 20% of the income, then pays less than 20% tax on it. If the math is too hard ... ask my wife. She flunked Ryan but normally she is kinder than that.
There is nothing wrong, suspect or threatening about being Muslim. Period. If you start claiming that there is, I will start hitting homeruns against Christianity, and believe me the pitcher is rubbish, and the outfield short.
Now I am done being kind to Republicans .... They really jumped the shark with voter supression. I am okay with voters showing identification so I have a suggestion. Why don't we send them each a little white card with their name and address on it. Just to be even more helpful we might decide to include their Polling Place too, lest they forget. If they didn't bring their card with them, we could maybe ask for something with an address on it ... of course most polling places are small, and many voters are well known. It is highly unlikely that an elderly senior towing an oxygen cylinder has already voted three times today. Even if she has, how will showing you any ID tell you that?
Voter suppresion disguised as something else is not simply bad policy. It is not a tightening of proceedures. It does not ensure free and fair elections. What it does do is rob us of democracy. Those making these proposals are not our political opponents, they are enemies of the state and should be treated as such.
These are just a few of the things that crossed my mind as I scanned Twitter and Facebook.
I'm sure there are a good deal more, the idiocy of this election campaign seems to know no bounds. So if you have themes that we might benefit from developing answers to, then have at it. There is a whole comment thread just waiting for input.