Bah Humbug

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Monday December 27, 2004 · 6:41 AM PST

2004/12/27 · 06:41

The Republican Party is full of Scrooges. It is all they are. And the Democrats all too often act like Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, hoping for a change in the heart of the old Mr. Scrooge and more than happy to accept whatever meager bestowings from him in the meantime.

But Christmas Day has come and past, and there was no change our Mr. Scrooge. Sure, he talks a good game, but our Mr. Scrooge is colder and more miseley than the Dicken's character.

For our Mr. Scrooge has the audacity to pen a Christmas message that goes something like this: "The Christmas season fills our hearts with gratitude for the many blessings in our lives. With those blessings comes a responsibility to reach out to others. Many of our fellow Americans still suffer from the effects of illness or poverty. Christmas time reminds each of us that we have a duty to love our neighbor just as we would like to be loved ourselves."

Ah, the Golden Rule. The rule that Jesus Christ himself proclaimed to rise above all rules. But in the mind of our Mr. Scrooge, they are just words.

For if he really believed the message of those words in his heart, he would not have cut an estimated $100 million in global food aid programs aimed at helping millions of people climb out of poverty.

If he really believed those words, he would not have altered the formula for Pell Grant scholarships that will remove 80,000 to 90,000 low-income students from the list, on Christmas Eve no less.

If he really believed those words, he would have cancelled his tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% so as to ensure that no cuts had to be made in essential social services that aid the ill and the poor.

He does not believe those words. He says them. The words make him feel better, perhaps. Or perhaps he says them to make his voters feel better. The "Say One Thing - Do Another" Morality of today's America. Remember, it is the pro-lifers who decry abortion and say they value life who, at the same time, call for the genocide of all Arabian people, who endorse with a fanatical zeal the death penalty, and who threaten murder and violence upon anyone who disagrees with them.

Ah yes, the morality of today's America. It warms the heart. But I digress.

But Mr. Scrooge is not done stealing from the poor, sick and elderly to give to the rich, healty and young.

Now our Mr. Scrooge wants to privatize the Social Security system. He wants to give the $1.5 trillion trust fund that is Social Security over to Citigroup and other large Wall Street brokers and financial conglomerates. And Mr. Scrooge cannot wait until there is an actual crisis that he, as President, should respond to. No, he must create a crisis, so that his "Say One Thing - Do Another" Moral voters can feel good about reforming Social Security, when in truth they will be ending Social Security, taking from the poor and elderly and giving to the rich.

But why would our Mr. Scrooge want to end Social Security? It has been one of the few governmental programs that works, is efficient, and has a Christian value that he speaks of when it suits him. The answer is simple: Because he can. And because, under his Administration, anything that benefits the less fortunate must be "reformed."

Ah, the Christmas season. The season of giving. Soon this will be reformed as well. Into the "Season of Getting." Oh wait, maybe it already has.

Bah Humbug.

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