Cross-posted for a friend from "another place"
I got this stinking email from a very conservative friend of mine. . . one of many. This one is from some former marine and former office holder out of Massachusetts who is "tired" of things, as his title says.
Well, this one pissed me off. Its simplistic world view combined with an almost juvenile railing at the way things are, not to mention a complete disregard for facts, riled me enough that I'm out of my depression and sleep away from this blog. (sorry for my absence)
So here it is in all its glory and assininity.
I'm sick of this right-wing crap that goes around unchallenged.
I'm sick of these right-wingnut diatribes circulating the net with no response. Time for this one to be shot down.
Enjoy.
"I'm Tired"
Robert A. Hall (with a response by Jenny M)
The original rant is located with a bullet(•)and is boldface, the responses are indicated with a ++.
• I'll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.
++Well hells bells, me too. Fifty hour weeks? Is that all you got? How about 60 or 72? That's what I've been doing. I've worked my ass off for 37+ years now and have witnessed my taxes go up while the richest of the rich's taxes went down. When I was born in the 50s Rich guys paid 80% of the tax money the government had and middle income folks like us paid 20%. NOW THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE AND RICH PAY NEARLY NOTHING. MOST CORPORATIONS PAY NO TAX EITHER. Their tax rate is seemingly high, but they have deductions that you and I will never have simply because we don't have that much money. The system has been redesigned since 1980 to favor the rich. This is provable and no one who really knows tax code can or would deny it. Capitalism NEEDS socialism and Socialism NEEDS capitalism, both to balance the other. Insane marxism happens on one extreme and Bernie Madoff happens on the other. Get used to it, America is a social-democratic republic and has been ever since we started our first branch of the military and the post office. If you disagree, you don't understand the definitions involved. Go back to school. I'm not nearly as tired as I am pissed off. VERY pissed off.
• I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth around" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.
++NO ONE ELSE has YOUR work ethic. That's why it is called YOUR work ethic. No one wants to spread around your "wealth" (which previously you deny having or being able to retire because things are so bad), Now, the bastard rich people who have rewritten the tax laws to favor themselves and make you and I pay for it since Reagan came into office. . . THEY NEED TO GIVE BACK WHAT THEY HAVE STOLEN... The pie has run out and they are keeping WHAT YOU EARNED FOR THEM! Some resources belong to all people and should not be profited upon. Or do you think only certain people should be able to afford water? You're not rich enough for a leftie to want to take from... You're one of the people who are bad off, you've just been duped to think you're not. YOU'VE BEEN SCREWED BY THE PEOPLE YOU STILL THINK ARE HONEST. OPEN YOUR EYES.
• I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the leftwing Congresscritters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them-with their own money.
++No one want to save Mcmansion idiots, and if you think they do, you haven't done your reading. Get busy. However, people who were screwed by completely unethical lenders who knew damn well the loan would go bad deserve some help. . . Unless you can say that you understand every detail of lending language and formal legal definitions (and you know damn well you don't), you cannot judge others. I AM ABOUT TO LOSE MY FULLY PAID OFF HOUSE THAT WAS PURCHASED WITH THE HELP OF A NON-STANDARD LOAN (a 30 year loan paid off in 13 years) BECAUSE I COULD NOT AFFORD $1500.00/MONTH HEALTH INSURANCE... You want to tell me how that is fair on ANY LEVEL?
And what do you mean more taxes? Have they gone up since January? Are they going up because you make more than $250,000.00? If they are, quit bitchin' you have plenty. Stop being selfish.
• I'm tired of being told how bad America is by leftwing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the religious freedom and women's rights of Saudi Arabia, the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Gay people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela. Won't multiculturalism be beautiful?
++Leftwingers don't think America is bad. WE LOVE AMERICA AND ARE JUST AS PATRIOTIC AS ANY RIGHT WINGNUT. We do however, refuse to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that all is well. America needs work, internally. Unless you think starving people, tent cities (Bushvilles), 10% unemployment, healthcare only for the wealthy and minimum wage for everyone is a good thing.
Look Buddy, Multi-Culturalism is Why YOU ARE ALLOWED TO BE IN THIS COUNTRY BY MY PEOPLE, the original residents of this land and why people of german ancestry weren't exterminated by free-thinkers while the WWI and WWII went on. Think about it.
Lefties want religious freedom, just keep it the hell out of our government. PERIOD. THIS IS WHY OUR COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED TO BEGIN WITH. Read Thomas Jefferson.
No left winger has ever thrown a book out of the library or burned them for their message, but this is a tenant of the conservative. Banning and burning. It's going on even today. STOP LYING.
And don't even for one second pretend that ANY conservative organization is pro-gay person or pro gay marriage. STOP LYING.
Apparently you want your life to be legislated by millionaires like Bill Frist, Dick Cheney, Bernie Madoff, Jack Abramoff, Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling and entertainers like Ronald Reagan, Sonny Bono, Fred Thompson, Fred Grandy, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elizabeth Hasselbeck and and... I guess only RIGHTWING actors and millionaires have a right to political opinions/involvement, eh?
• I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor;" of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers;" of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery;" of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.
++Something we agree on. However I realize that not all muslims feel this is a good thing and want to change their religion away from this sort of behavior. Those are the folks we should be TALKING WITH and not killing with errant weaponry. I also tired of being told that christianity is a religion of peace. Hell, all religion is bullshit supernatural fantasies just like Nancy Reagan's astrology. You can shove it all.
• I believe "a man should be judged by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin." I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of President Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois. I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less in an all-knowing government.
++When guys like you (maybe not YOU personally, but from FAR TOO MANY white males) are still running around screaming nigger this and nigger that, you show why affirmative action is still necessary. Want to change affirmative action? Then CHANGE YOUR ATTUTUDE! People like Condi Rice who believe that government is the problem shouldn't be IN government... They obviously are not equipped to make it run right since they don't believe in it from the beginning. Her color has nothing to do with her incompetence. And didn't she get through college on Affirmative action programs?
• I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful. That thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress, that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his, that slammed Palin with two years as governor for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever.
++Obama's inaugural expenses were paid for by private parties and have NUMEROUS instances of those numbers being inflated and misrepresented by your lying sack of shit buddies at FOX. Take the time to research, not just react.
Sarah Palin was mayor of a cowtown of 3,000 people and is governor of a state 50% smaller than Milwaukee. She IS NOT FIT TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE PTA much less to stand in the shoes of John McCain. She has been caught dippin in the state till for personal gain, and is in favor of breaking up the Union and allowing Alaska to Secede from the nation. We fought one war over this already. Do you think a secessionist should be president? Why do you hate America? See http://mediamatters.org/... and http://thebridge.typepad.com/... .
• Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.
++So, you're drawn to liars and manipulators? FOX NEWS viewership is at the lowest it has EVER BEEN. Read the armitrons and Neilsens. It is also heralded worldwide as the most biased "news" organization on the planet. Even Al-Jezeera gets a better rating for fairness and objectivity.
• I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.
++Saudia is a sovereign nation. If Saudia Arabia spends their oil money on Mosques, so be it. Pardon me, but didn't we freely purchase their oil and choose to give them our treasure for it? Didn't we have the chance under Jimmy Carter to develop real conservation policieslike efficient cars, solar, thermal, wind alternatives, but instead chose to buy SUVs, build McMansions and tear the solar heating off of the White House (reagan)?
It's their country and their money, they earned it... I thought Conservatives didn't believe America should tell capitalism what to do... Or is this another "except for" rightist belief? Oh yeah, George W. Bush showed that America is all about invading sovereign nations unilaterally. Maybe we should go kick Saudia Arabia's ass. "Bring it on!"
• I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.
++No one said you have to lower your standard of living to fight global warming. Besides, it sounds like you're doing your part. Maybe a few compact florescent bulbs and a hybrid when your next car is purchased. . . You are being told that if you DON'T FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING YOUR STANDARD OF LIVING IS GOING TO BE DESTROYED by your own selfishness. Your choice. It's not debatable because when we are out of energy, we're fucked. ALL OF US. Change now or be forced to change by conditions. Are you the ant or the grasshopper? Can you grow a garden for your food. . . ? You're going to have to be able to. I thought you lived in a paid-off $250,000.00 dollar condo?
• I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.
++Addiction IS a disease. . . whether it is your alcohol or some else's cocaine. Human's have a weak link inside and sometimes they need the help of the medical world to be cured... Just like diabetes or cancer. If you can't understand that, you're just plain ignorant. Careful, you're showing your immaturity. Apparently, you NEED to try some Marijuana. Mellow out hard ass.
• I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military. Those are the citizens we need.
++Well, we agree on something. Now try to get your band of non-white hating racist republican buddies in the party to see that. Drop the straw man name calling (which is just sooo mature) and learn that MOST illegals are working, pay taxes and social security AND ARE FIGHTING IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN but CAN NEVER COLLECT BACK FROM IT because they are illegal. The crooks and bums, yea, toss em out. FAST! Even if they're caucasian, like russian mafia types.
• I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people then themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure.
++WHO? Served?
Prominent Republicans
Congressman Ron Paul - active duty flight surgeon from 1963-65; Air National Guard from 1965-68. (link)Former Senator Bob Dole - an honorable man. http://www.bobdole.org/... Hagel - two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star, Vietnam. http://www.senate.gov/... Cunningham - nominated for the Medal of Honor, received the Navy Cross, two Silver Stars, fifteen Air Medals, the Purple Heart, and several other decorations Recently entered plea bargain on felony charges of bribery, etc. etc. Senator Jeff Sessions U.S. Army Reserves, 1973-1986Colin Powell. What are we to make of Powell? On the one hand, a long career as a military manager. On the other hand, accused of covering up the My Lai massacre. Back on that first hand, one of the seemingly sane voices in this administration when it comes to Iraq (or at least he used to be). On the other hand, a clear hypocrite ("I am angry that so many of the sons of the powerful and well-placed... managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units...")
Representative Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), served in USMC in Vietnam; wounded in action.
Senator John McCain - McCain's naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. Why did the Bush campaign smear him so in 2000? At least Senators Cleland (D-GA), Kerry (D-MA), Kerrey (D-NE), Robb (D-VA) and Hagel (R-NE) defended him.
Representative Patrick McHenry, R-NC - did not serve. Saw fit to endanger American troops' lives after a visit to Iraq by violating operational security and helping militias target their mortar attacks on the Green Zone.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY - did not serve (1)
Senate Assistant Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-MI - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Senate Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl, R-AZ - did not serve.
Senate Republican Conference Vice Chair John Cornyn, R-TX - did not serve.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Ensign, R-NV - did not serve.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-OH - did not serve.
House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-MO - did not serve.
House Republican Conerence Chair Adam Putnam, R-FL - did not serve.
House Republican Policy Committee Thaddeus McCotter, R-MI - did not serve.
National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-OK - did not serve.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani - did not serve.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney - did not serve in the military but did serve the Mormon Church on a 30-month mission to France.
Former Senator Fred Thompson - did not serve.
Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay - avoided the draft, did not serve (1). "So many minority youths had volunteered ... that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like himself."
Former House Majority Whip Roy Blunt - did not serve
Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist - did not serve. (An impressive medical resume, but not such a friend to cats in Boston.)
Rick Santorum, R-PA, formerly third ranking Republican in the Senate - did not serve. (1)
George Felix Allen, former Republican Senator from Virginia - a supporter of Nixon and the Vietnam war, did not serve. (1)
Former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld - served in the U.S. Navy (1954-57) and met with Saddam Hussein twice in 1983 and 1984.
GW Bush - decided that a six-year Nat'l Guard commitment really means four years. Still says that he's "been to war." Huh?
VP Dick Cheney - several deferments (1, 2), the last by marriage (in his own words, "had other priorities than military service") (1)
Former Att'y Gen. John Ashcroft - did not serve (1, 2); received seven deferment to teach business ed at SW Missouri State
Jeb Bush, Florida Governor - did not serve. (1)
Karl Rove - avoided the draft, did not serve (1), too busy being a Republican.
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich - avoided the draft, did not serve (1, 2)
Former President Ronald Reagan - due to poor eyesight, served in a noncombat role making movies for the Army in southern California during WWII. He later seems to have confused his role as an actor playing a tail gunner with the real thing.
"B-1" Bob Dornan - avoided Korean War combat duty by enrolling in college acting classes (Orange County Weekly article). Enlisted only after the fighting was over in Korea.
Phil Gramm - avoided the draft, did not serve, four (?) student deferments
Rush Limbaugh-Drug Addict, felon and blowhard, Avoided the draft because of an ANAL CYST (a boil) What a man.
Prominent Democrats
Rick Noriega, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Texas -- joined the U.S. Army in 1979; currently Lt. Colonel in Texas Army National Guard, served in Afghanistan. (1)
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) -- rifle platoon and company commander with the Fifth Marine Regiment in the An Hoa Basin west of Danang; was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts. (1)
Representative Tim Walz, D-MN - Twenty-four years of service in the Army National Guard, retiring in 2005.
Representative Joe Sestak, D-PA - 31 years of service in the Navy, rising to the rank of Vice Admiral.
Representative Chris Carney, D-PA - Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserve, Carney served multiple tours overseas and was activated for Operation Enduring Freedom, Noble Eagle, and Southern Watch.
Representative Patrick Murphy, D-PA - extensive career in the U.S. Army from 1993-2004; earned Bronze Star and Presidential Unit Citation.
Representative Phil Hare, D-IL - Served in the United States Army Reserve for six years.
Representative Jack Murtha (D-PA) - distinguished 37-year career in the U.S. Marine Corps, Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, retired from the Marine Corps Reserve as a colonel in 1990. (1)
Former House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt - Missouri Air National Guard, 1965-71. (1, 2)
Representative David Bonior - Staff Sgt., United States Air Force 1968-72 (1, 2)
Former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle - 1st Lt., U.S. Air Force SAC 1969-72 (1, 2)
Former Vice President Al Gore - enlisted August 1969; sent to Vietnam January 1971 as an army journalist, assigned to the 20th Engineer Brigade headquartered at Bien Hoa, an airbase twenty miles northeast of Saigon. More facts about Gore's Service
Former Senator Bob Kerrey... Democrat... Lt. j.g., U.S. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam (1, 2)
Senator Daniel Inouye, US Army 1943-'47; Medal of Honor, World War Two (1, 2)
Senator John Kerry, Lt., U.S. Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, and three awards of the Purple Heart for his service in combat (1)
Representative Charles Rangel, Staff Sgt., U.S. Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea (1, 2)
Former Senator Max Cleland, Captain, U.S. Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam (1, 2)
Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) - U.S. Army Reserve, 1968-1975.
Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) - U.S. Army, 1951-1953. (1)
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) - Lt., U.S. Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74. (1, 2)
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) - U.S. Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91 (1)
Former Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC) - served as a U.S. Army officer in World War II, receiving the Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons. (1)
Representative Leonard Boswell (D-IA) - Lt. Col., U.S. Army 1956-76; two tours in Vietnam, two Distinguished Flying Crosses as a helicopter pilot, two Bronze Stars, and the Soldier's Medal. (1, 2)
Former Representative "Pete" Peterson, Air Force Captain, POW, Ambassador to Viet Nam, and recipient of the Purple Heart, the Silver Star and the Legion of Merit. (1, 2)
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-CA: Staff sergeant/platoon leader with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, U.S. Army; was wounded and received a Purple Heart. (1, 2)
Bill McBride, Democratic Candidate for Florida Governor - volunteered and served as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam; awarded Bronze Star with a combat "V." (1)
Gray Davis, former California Governor, Army Captain in Vietnam; received Bronze Star. (1)
Pete Stark, D-CA, served in the Air Force 1955-57
Wesley Clark, Democratic Presidential Candidate - 38-year career of public service in the Army, culminating as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.
Now who are we talking about?
• Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years-and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let myself be sub je cted to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.(. . . )
+++ Tit for tat atrocities is a fool's game. If we hadn't gone to Iraq on an adventure conjured by people who had never been to war and chose to ignore the warnings of people who had, none of this would have happened. Better we reserve war as an absolute last choice and then if we choose to do it, go at it with all the fervor and strength that a democracy can muster, not some half-baked Rumsian fantasy about minimal force. If you're going to a gunfight, don't bring a knife, bring a gun.
• I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers-bums are bi-partisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bi-partisanship. I live in Illinois , where the " Illinois Combine" of Democrats and Republicans has worked together harmoniously to loot the public for years. And I notice that the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet are bi-partisan as well.
++ANOTHER THING WE AGREE ON.
• I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.
++That's right, if ya get caught, man up. Don't hide behind bloggers from the right-wing to manufacture phony letters to bait and discredit a news organization. Admit that you were too busy drinking your ass off and snorting cocaine to finish your last two years of national guard service that was given to you by your rich and powerful daddy, ahead of other not-rich kids so that you didn't have to serve in Vietnam. Don'tcha hate that sense of entitlement that some people have where they think they deserve all the benefits for living in a democracy but shouldn't have to contribute to it?
• Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.
++This is just plain stupid. An air conditioner has become a positively cheap item in the year 2009. Christ, you can buy a 10,000 btu unit for $200.00. And having 2 cars doesn't mean they are new, cost a bunch or are actually used. Ever hear of a hoopdie? You just seem to think poor people should have horrible lives in addition to being miserable. How christian of you. By the way, have you tried to buy a Black and White TV lately? Where ever did you find one? Or is it just having a TV at all that you hate? And who are all those "minority" people on the county buses during rush hour?
• Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts state senate. He blogs at www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com
Jenny M, is a citizen who has paid her dues and played by the rules all her life. . . except for smoking some pot here and there. She is a property owner (for now) and pays her taxes. She is in hock for $200K from an emergency triple bypass in 2008. She told the doctors to let her die because she couldn't pay the bill. They forced her to have the surgery (easy since she was immobile) and are now demanding payment for the service she refused. She is unemployed since the surgery and has no way to pay the bill, short of bankruptcy. At that point "they" get everything she has earned in the last 35 years. Now that's fair! She does blog, but not because she has the inflated ego of some guy who was jarhead for 1/6th of his life and feels everyone should know HIS opinion just because he seems to wrap his entire identity around it. And besides no one really fucking cares, why bother?