tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19834573600033238652024-02-20T02:16:23.643-08:00McBlogWriting about...cool stuffChris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-6907771114373755342012-01-25T10:22:00.000-08:002012-01-25T10:26:19.409-08:00The Algorithm<i>This was written for the 2011 Creative Loafing Short Fiction Contest. This year's theme was math. You could use math as a theme, metaphor, whatever. This entry didn't win but I enjoyed writing it and I hope you might enjoy reading it.</i><div><br /></div> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:drawinggridhorizontalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:drawinggridverticalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:dontautofitconstrainedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox would never get used to it, two small metallic slits just behind his left ear. Every morning it was the first thing he noticed. He reached behind his ear and felt them. It didn’t really hurt; it was more like an itch he couldn’t scratch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>On the nightstand was his implant. It was a small crescent shaped device, with two-fork like studs protruding from the back. Knox slid the mechanism in place behind his ear; it fit like a glove. The implant was supposed to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">virtually unnoticeable</i> to the user but Knox noticed it, even more than that peculiar itch he felt every morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The moment it clicked in place he was connected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The first thing the device delivered to Knox’s cerebral cortex was the news. Almost instantaneously he knew that the markets were up and that crime was down, no surprises there. But the big news of the day was the upcoming tenth anniversary of the Algorithm. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Had it really been ten years? </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A small chirp emanated from the implant.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%">“Detective, this is Director Lantz, “ a man’s voice said in the implant.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%">“Director?” Knox said with surprise in his voice.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“There’s a situation at the Complex.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%">“What kind of situation?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%">“Your presence is required,” Lantz answered back. “Twenty minutes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%">The connection was severed. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%">As a detective for the National Police Force, he hadn’t gone anywhere <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">but</i> the office in nearly ten years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Ever since the Algorithm was put in place he had done little more than paper work every day. He couldn’t remember the last time an actual crime was committed. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%">It was an overcast day in the city. Only neon lights and video displays illuminated the morning gloom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>His bones were stiff today. They said that sixty was the new thirty but Knox didn’t feel like it today; he felt old, like he’d been left behind. The Hyper-Tram zipped by overhead, you barely noticed, just a slight buzz. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox had never actually been to the Algorithm Complex before; he knew it was big, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. It was the biggest man made structure on the planet, a city unto itself. The Algorithm Project employed hundreds of thousands of people in the city, millions worldwide. It was a joint venture between Synth Corp and the world’s government’s but it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended. In the front lobby a 100-foot wide video display was playing a short film commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Algorithm. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“…Our founder Aldous Schroder developed the most complex computer ever invented and an even more complicated mathematical formula known as the Algorithm.” At the front desk, a biometric machine scanned Knox’s retina. The film continued, “…An Algorithm that can predict the outcome of any circumstance with 99% certainty.” A set of double doors opened down the hall with a slightly audible hiss. A camera followed Knox through the doors and down a pristine white corridor where Director Lantz met him.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“This way detective.” Knox followed the Director through another set of double doors marked TECH SECTOR 9. Lantz was a good twenty years older than Knox, not far from retirement, though it wasn’t unusual for a man to work well into his 100’s these days. Lantz led Knox through a labyrinth of electronic equipment; he had never seen so much tech but knew it was only a small part of the Algorithm Complex. “Tell me detective, when’s the last time you were surprised by something?” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Sir?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Surprised? Do you remember what it’s like?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox wasn’t sure what the Director was getting at. There wasn’t much to be surprised about these days. The Algorithm changed all that. But Knox played along. “I suppose it was 6/6.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">The Director only met Knox’s eyes at that response as he opened another set of sliding doors. Through the doors a man was lying in a pool of his own blood, a bullet hole through the back of his head. “Well detective?” Lantz asked. “Does it still feel the same? To be surprised?” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox was speechless. He knelt by the body for a closer look. It had been a while but the old instincts came back. A bullet in the back of the head, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">this man was executed. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Most of the other guys on the force have never investigated a real crime,” the Director said, “let alone a murder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>That’s why you got the call.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox wasn’t sure if he should be flattered or horrified. “Any witness’?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“No.” Lantz replied<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“What about the cameras? <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“No.” Lantz chirped back<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">That took Knox aback. “How can that be,” he said while motioning around the room to the many cameras. “They’re everywhere.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“We were hacked.” The voice came from behind Knox, when he turned he found an old Asian man, even older than Lantz. He was impeccably dressed, not the slightest hint of emotion showing on his face. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Detective Knox, this is Hiro Koshi,” said Lantz.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox didn’t need to be introduced. He was well aware of who the CEO of Synth Corp was. “Mr. Koshi,” Knox said as he bowed. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Detective Knox is one of our best and he’ll be the sole investigator on this case,” said the Director. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Koshi was showing emotion now. “One detective? I assumed you would have the entire force working on this.” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how sensitive this matter is,” Lantz said. “The first murder in ten years and it just happens to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Algorithm. If word gets out about this, there will be panic in the streets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have every confidence that Detective Knox will bring this matter to a speedy close.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox was just as surprised as Koshi but he went along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“For right now the less people who know, the better.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Of course,” replied Koshi. “Whatever you think is best.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Who was this man Mr. Koshi?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“His name was Gomez, one of our system analysts.” Koshi handed Knox a small tablet computer. The security footage had a time stamp of 12:07am when Gomez was seen coming through the door of sector 9 and then the screen went black. The next image was Gomez lying on the floor dead; the time stamp read 12:16am. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">They were interrupted by Hiro’s implant going off. Koshi lightly tapped the device behind his ear. “Yes? I’ll be right there.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Gentlemen,” said Koshi, “if you will excuse me?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Of course. Detective Knox and I will be in touch”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Very good.” Hiro bowed slightly then he was gone. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Gomez’s work log will be uploaded to your implant. Keep me apprised of your progress Detective,” said Lantz as he too left. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">On the way out Knox synched his implant. Gomez seemed to have had a pretty routine night at work but the one thing that did stand out was an IP address. Internet Protocol Address’ had been phased out in the late twenty-first century. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">So how the hell did Gomez come across one? </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“Well, it should be easy to trace,” Knox said aloud to himself. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">The Gates. Knox frequented this area even less than the city; there was no reason to unless he was looking for cyber drugs, a prostitute, or just down on his luck in general. The IP address was definitely in Gatestown but Knox could only narrow it down to a few blocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He had been walking for an hour when he came to dilapidated apartment building. The door wouldn’t budge and the intercom was busted, if it ever worked at all. “Fuck.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“That’s usually my reaction when I get home everyday.” She couldn’t have been a day over twenty-five, jet-black hair with neon green highlights. She had taken Knox by surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“You live here?” he asked. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Well, I wouldn’t call it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">living</i>, per say, it’s more of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">dwelling,” </i>the girl said bugging her eyes out playfully. “If a guy like you is living here though, you must be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">way</i> worse off than me.” She reached past Knox. “There’s a trick to the door, gotta jiggle it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">As the girl fussed with the door, Knox noticed a twenty-first century style laptop in her shoulder bag. “Nice computer,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">The girl froze and locked eyes with Knox. She tried to run but<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Knox restrained her and took out his Pulse-Shock. It wasn’t a lethal device but it could be extremely painful. The weapon fired a concentrated electronic pulse that would paralyze the target for about a minute. He held it in front of her face. “I could use this.” The girl stopped struggling. “But I won’t.” Knox put the device away. “What’s your name?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Ocea.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Ocea, I just want to talk.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Her apartment was like a museum; post twenty-first century technology everywhere. Old CPU towers, laptops, servers, and everything seemed to be in working order. “What is all this?” he asked. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“My office I guess,” Ocea replied. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“Why did you run?” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“General principle, you’re NPF.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox wasn’t buying it. He pulled out a picture of Gomez and slid it across to her. “You know this guy?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">She glanced down at the picture then back at Knox. “Nope. What he do, download too much kiddy porn?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“No, he was a tech at the Algorithm Complex” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Ocea rolled her eyes and shuddered, “Even worse.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“He’s dead.” That shut her up. “Shot in the back of the head and right now you’re my number one suspect.” She was fuming now; angry, scared, both? Knox couldn’t tell. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Where were you last night around midnight?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Here.” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Doing what?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">She didn’t answer.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox got up and looked at all the old tech in the room. “You hacked the Algorithm, with all this?” The girl didn’t answer. “That’s how you slipped by. The Algorithm or the Machine wouldn’t be able to make heads or tails out of this old gear. And what about Gomez?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“My guess is he saw something he wasn’t supposed to.” Suddenly a red light began to flicker in the room. Ocea shot up, “Who knows you’re here?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“No one!”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Ocea flipped on a large video display. Grainy footage showed a squad of NPF officers storming in the building. “Liar!” she screamed.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“I’m telling you, no one knew I was coming here!” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Then you were followed.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Look, I can help you,” said Knox. “If you’ll just cooperate.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Cooperate? I may have hacked that unholy machine but I did not kill that guy. I’m being set up and I can prove it!” Ocea packed a few things in her shoulder bag. She flipped up a rug on the floor; underneath there was a hatch. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox pulled out the Pulse-Shock and pointed it at her. “Ocea, I can’t let you leave.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">She walked towards Knox, stopping an inch from his face. “Then come with me. I’ll show you, I’ll show you everything.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox looked in her eyes, they were green and radiant, and then he felt something. Something he hadn’t felt in a long a time: a gut feeling. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox’s legs were throbbing by the time they finally hit the ground. He had no idea how deep they had gone in the tunnel, it seemed like they had been climbing down forever. He wasn’t sure where they were at; it looked like an old train station. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">No, it couldn’t be. </i>Knox wiped some soot from the wall, underneath it read:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in; line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; line-height:150%">GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">He looked at Ocea, “The old city.” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“What’s left of it,” she said. “C’mon this way.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">There wasn’t a day that went by that Knox didn’t think about 6/6. An entire city reduced to rubble, millions dead. But we came back from it, we rallied, built the city back; made it better. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">It was better right?</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Ocea led them up the main concourse; a scorched American flag still hung from the ceiling. “Start talking Ocea and it better be good. When this is all said and done, I’m likely to end up in jail with you.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">They came to a door that was marked as restricted access. “When’s the last time you were surprised by something Knox?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“The last time someone asked me that, a corpse was involved.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Ocea gave the door a brisk shove with her shoulder and it was open. “Well, let me ask you another way. Do you know what the Algorithm does?” Ocea hit a switch on the wall to power up the old control room. Dozens of ancient computers and video displays came to life.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox didn’t have time for this but he humored her. “Sure,” he said with resignation in his voice, “It’s a mathematical formula, that’s way to complicated for a guy with my pay grade to understand, and it can predict the outcome of any given scenario with 99% certainty. Did I pass?” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Close,” she said as she sat down in front of a computer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“Thanks to your friends up there I had to nuke all my data in my apartment but I back up everything to this control room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This place is kinda like my Bat-Cave. “ <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:150%">Who is this girl?</span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%"> Knox thought.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“My father always told me that the Algorithm was meant to help people and it did… for a while.” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“And what was he?” Knox asked. “Some kind of tech philosopher?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“No, he was Aldous Schroder.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox was stunned. “I wasn’t aware that Schroder had any children.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Something tells me there’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">a lot </i>you’re not aware of.” Ocea pounded on the keyboard and brought up a map of North America. “When my father was first developing the Algorithm his vision was to give people certainty in an uncertain world. It was a noble endeavor but shortly after the program went online 6/6 happened and everything changed.” Ocea hit a button on the keyboard and the map on the screen was suddenly filled with tiny orange dots. The map was completely covered, hardly a map at all now, more like a big orange glob. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“What am I looking at?” he asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Each dot represents an implant logged on to the network. A lot of people right?” Ocea then brought up a global map. “This is every implant on earth.” The entire room was bathed in orange light. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Jesus,” Knox said. “Where’d you get this?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“This is off the Synth Corp mainframe.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Where are you going with this Ocea?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“After 6/6 happened the government and it’s top scientists, my father among them, ran every possible scenario against the Algorithm to find out how they could prevent another attack.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Then Knox began to understand.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Time and again the solution the Algorithm produced was to monitor every bit of data from every single implant on earth.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox sat down.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Ocea pointed to Knox’s implant. “Do you have any idea how much of our lives are stored on those <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">things?</i>” Knox reached behind his ear and felt his implant and that’s when he noticed that Ocea didn’t have a port behind her own ear. “Your father never allowed you to have one?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Ocea shook her head. “Never, and he only agreed to let our government and Synth Corp spy on the entire planet until the city was rebuilt. Unfortunately he died before that could happen.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“But that still doesn’t explain who killed Gomez.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Ocea brought up a new screen on the computer. “What time was he killed?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“There was a gap in the security footage last night between 12:07 and 12:16am.” Knox watched as Ocea shuttled through the security video. She stopped when the time stamp read 12:07am. Gomez was seen going through the doors of tech sector 9. He stopped to check something at one of the terminals, he seemed confused, and then a man with a gun stepped into the frame. The shooter’s back was to the camera. He raised the weapon and fired; the front of Gomez’s head exploded. When the man turned to leave, Ocea paused the video: it was Hiro Koshi. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">They made it into the Complex easily enough which didn’t sit well with Knox. As they made their way towards Tech Sector 9 Knox noticed the cameras weren’t following them. “Something’s wrong.” The double doors in front of them hissed open. It was Lantz and Koshi.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Good work Detective,” the Director said. “We’ll take it from here.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Sir you don’t understand,” Knox pleaded. “Koshi killed Gomez!”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“No you don’t understand!” he fired back. “There are things going on here bigger than you and I, the Algorithm keeps us safe and this girl is going to destroy that!” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“I only want people to know the truth,” Ocea said. “Let them decide if it’s worth trading privacy and freedom for safety.” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Lantz pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “Knox put these on her and I’ll forget about your little indiscretions today.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Knox didn’t even have to think about it. He drew his Pulse-Shock and fired two quick bursts at Lantz and Koshi. The two old men fell to the floor writhing in pain. Ocea couldn’t believe it. “Go!” Knox beckoned her. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Ocea scurried over to a terminal and got to work. “They won’t be out for long,” Knox said. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“You’d be amazed how quickly you can undo ten years of tyranny,” she said. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“So how’s this work?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“I’m uploading everything from the mainframe to the Network. Everyone who’s logged in will know the truth about the Algorithm, Synth Corp; everything. Then they’ll make a choice.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“What choice?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">“Whether they want to live a life of certainty or freedom.” Ocea went through a few more keystrokes, and then brought up the screen with the orange dots. One by one, they disappeared. Knox took out his own implant and smashed it under his boot. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">The complex erupted in chaos, workers scrambling and a squad of NPF officers stormed in but seemed more interested in Lantz and Koshi than the couple boarding the Hyper-Tram. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Inside the car Knox asked, “What now?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%">Ocea looked at Lantz and smiled, “Surprise me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--><div> </div>Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-35999199314420931782010-11-15T08:05:00.000-08:002010-11-15T08:10:03.094-08:00IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT…<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;"> And I feel fine, mostly because I’m stinking drunk. That’s right it’s 11:30pm here on the east coast on election night and the Republicans have taken control of the House. My, my, well at least the good people of Delaware were able to break the spell of anti-masturbationist Christine O'Donnell but that didn’t stop the rubes in Kentucky from electing Tea Party golden boy and <a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/06/rand-paul-boardcertified-ophthalmologist-but-which-board.html">self certified</a> optometrist Rand Paul to the Senate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The loss of Feingold in Wisconsin was particularly painful and the Defeat of Prop 19 in California crushed any last hope that we were moving into a new age of progressivism. The dream is dead, the whole thing’s been turned back over to the wolves and to make matters worse I’m out of bourbon. Fuck this I’m going t0 bed</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;"> It’s exactly 24 hours later and the world hasn’t exploded but my head felt like it this morning. Been watching the news today and all the talking heads want to know what it means and all my friends want to move to Canada. As appealing as all that Canadian bacon sounds, though I think they just call it bacon there, I think we all need to calm down. Sure, I felt pretty grim last night but this is just how things go, the system is doing its thing. Two years ago the country took a hard swing to the left, now we’re swinging back to the right because Obama and the Dems haven’t been able to fix things fast enough for our wily and schizophrenic electorate.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;"> So what does it mean? It means the Republicans are going to actually have to do something besides say, “no” and Obama is going to have to take the gloves off. The biggest mistake the GOP can make is to make good on their threats to repeal healthcare. Obama still has a veto pen and the Republicans aren’t going to have the votes to override him. If they go down this road or even worse use their newly gained subpoena power, nothing is going to get done in the next two years and the independents are going to swing back to left in the next election cycle. The Government is designed to work with differing opinions and some would even argue it works better that way. But you know what? All this ranting and raving about who controls what is beside the point. It really doesn’t matter who holds the reigns in Washington, the Democrats or the Republicans, because they don’t really represent us. They represent the likes of Goldman Sachs and BP. It’s high time that this country wakes up and realizes that we’re not living in a Democracy but a Plutocracy. So don’t get too caught up in searching for the significance of this midterm. It’s very simple. It means nothing. Nothing is going to change. The rich will simply continue to rule while the rest of us live off their scraps. That is unless we can get past all the partisan bickering and I’m not talking about Washington. I’m talking about us. Me, you, your neighbors, co-workers, friends, frenemies, and family. I’m just as guilty as anyone, probably more so but it’s time to stop attacking each other and start holding our so called leaders accountable for selling the American Dream to the Corporate Oligarchy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-13136404693915176902010-08-05T08:30:00.000-07:002010-08-05T08:43:13.550-07:00Tea Baggin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">April 15 tax day and if you’re a member of the Tea Party you wait all year for this. There are rallies all over the country; it’s like D-day for the Tea Baggers. In Atlanta, the action is down at the capital. On the way over I heard on the radio that they were expecting over 5,000 people, it looks closer to 2,000 to me. The demographics are pretty much the same as they were at the <a href="http://truthmcblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/tea-baggin.html">meeting</a> I attended a few weeks ago but there are more minorities and young people than I expected. Looking around at the teaming masses the first thing that catches my eye is a sign, which reads:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">I’M TIRED OF PAYING FOR MY NEIGHBORS<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">WHO DON’T WORK!! <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">SPREAD MY WORK ETHIC-NOT MY WEALTH!! <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">(which isn’t much now)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">On the bottom there’s the ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ emblem and of course the ever-popular Hammer & Sickle image from the Soviet flag. The guy proudly wielding it is in his late 20’s and I gotta say it’s a beautiful sign, sure his talents are misguided but it was one of the better-made signs I saw that day. I asked him why he had the Hammer & Sickle on it and he said, “Because that’s what we’re going towards,” and that he was “just tired of paying for other people.” When I ask him to elaborate, he tells me about his neighbors whom are on section 8 but can somehow afford a new $50,000 Tahoe. This is not the first time I’ve heard this argument. Many in the Tea Party see what the Democrats are doing, with Healthcare in particular, as a form of welfare. But before I could press this young man any further <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">something</i> happened. Suddenly my blood runs cold and </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family: "American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">"<span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">I feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.</span>"</span></i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"> I turn to the stage and I immediately realize where this ominous sense of cold-hearted dread is coming from. Under the lights, in front of this unholy gathering is none other than </span><a href="http://www.gachristianalliance.org/aboutus.htm"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">Sadie Fields</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"> giving the invocation. Sadie is the chairman of the Georgia Christian Alliance, which in 2004 spearheaded the effort to have the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Constitutional_Amendment_1_(2004)"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">Georgia Marriage Amendment</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"> placed on the ballot. Now why would the Tea Baggers align themselves with a Christian Lobby? Aren’t they supposed to be ‘constitutionalists?’ The founding fathers (which the Tea Party are totally gay for) saw the wisdom in separating church and state; the Georgia Christian Alliance does not. It seems illogical for the Tea Baggers to be hooking up with these guys. But that’s not nearly as illogical as what I see next… A black guy, that’s right I said a black guy, holding a sign that says:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">REPEAL<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">NEW<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">SLAVERY<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">First of all, the work on this sign was nowhere near as good as the first guy I spoke to. This was real shotty work. Plain red letters glued on black cardboard and I could totally see gobs of glue oozing from under the letters. This guy did not bring his A-Game. Secondly, is he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">really</i> comparing the Democrat’s agenda with the Transatlantic Slave Trade? Well no, he explains to me “its enslavement of the mind.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Oh, the old enslavement of the mind trick. Those bastards! Why didn’t I see that coming?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Because it’s fucking crazy, that’s why!</i> Want to criticize Obama and the Dems? Go ahead. But criticize them with facts. Using words like ‘socialist’ and ‘slavery’ are nothing more than simplistic scare tactics. Don’t like the fact that your taxes may be raised. Fine I get that, I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I get it. We have to get rid of the deficit and you can’t realistically talk about doing that without considering raising taxes to help pay for it. Just spending cuts are not going to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">cut</i> it. We are all going to have to pay for it one way or another. At least with the Dems, the most fortunate among us will pay the lion’s share. Don’t like that? Okay, but we tried it your way for 8 years and look where it got us. Let someone else run with the ball for a while. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">All right enough preaching. Back to the rally; sure ‘Repeal New Slavery’ guy’s sign was messy but he was a bit of a novelty. I mean a black Tea Bagger! That’s unique in and of it self and besides at least he could spell. The next sign I see reads:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-USfont-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"><br /></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">OBAMA-STOP!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">YOU PROMISED US<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">DR. HOUSE<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">YOU FORCE FED US<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">DR. KEVORIAN<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">Yes, you read that right, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Kevorian</i>, not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Kevorkian</i>. Jeez, these people are killing me. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">Things didn’t get much better when Denny Schaffer took the stage. Schaffer is a local talk radio host and to listen to him talk about him self on his </span><a href="http://www.dennyradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=56"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">web page</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">, you’d think he was a really mellow spiritual guy, kinda preachy, in the literal since but mellow. To hear him speak in front of a frothing mass like the one here today you would think you were listening to a ranting, raving lunatic. Calling the ACLU “Satan’s law firm” and saying that this once great country is no more because the national philosophy has gone from ‘ask not what your country can do for you’ to “what can I do for myself without lifting a finger?” Again we get into the welfare argument. Denny talks a lot about Jesus on his webpage, a lot of the Tea Baggers do, and Jesus talked a lot about giving and compassion. That’s not something I’ve heard a lot about today. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">The next speaker, Ginni Thomas, wasn’t nearly as hateful as Schaffer but did a good job of getting the crowd whipped up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Ginni is the wife of Clarence Thomas; yes that Clarence Thomas, and she is also the founder of </span><a href="http://www.libertycentral.org/"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">libertycentral.org</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">, which chief among its many noble duties is securing “the blessings of liberty.” To Thomas this is a fight about whether we as a country want to be “self-governed or ruled” by the “elitist” in DC, whom, by the way, are “scared to death” of the Tea Party. According to Ginni, and she’s been working in DC for over 30 years, the Tea Party movement is “the biggest thing that has ever happened.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Wow really? Bigger than women’s suffrage or the civil rights movement? I must really have my head up my ass because I had no idea! </i>Thomas goes on to tell the crowd that this is our generations’ time to stand up to tyranny! By the end of her tirade she has the whole crowd chanting, “Remember in November! Remember in November! Remember in November!” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;">Now that the crowd is worked up nice and proper, we slow things down with a performance from country music star John Berry. Berry is a bit of a folk hero to the Tea Baggers. You see a year ago on this day John was sitting at home watching all the Tea Party events taking place across the country and he thought to himself “what can I do?” Well, “I write songs and sing,” he continues. “So I went in my office and I penned this one.” The song is called ‘Give me back my America’ and it is a Grade-A piece of Ameri-Porn. Just check out these choice lyrics:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:18.0pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:13.0pt;">I want to work with my hands down at the mill</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:18.0pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:13.0pt;">Plowin' a field or forgin' the steel</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:18.0pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:13.0pt;">With out interference from Capital Hill</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:13.0pt;">Give Me Back My America</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi- American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">If that doesn’t give you a patriotic boner then you may want to check your pulse! After Berry was done jerking off the crowd with the American flag I notice the guy beside me is crying like a 14-year-old girl at a Jonas Brothers concert. As I’m watching this guy weep I realize two things. 1) Most of these people have a genuine love for their country and 2) They really and truly believe they are losing their country and that scares the hell out of them. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">On the way out I some how managed to lose my car even though I only parked about a block away. After walking around for an hour I had a lot of time to think about all the craziness of the past few hours. And the more I thought about it, I just felt sorry for the Tea Party because some of their points are valid. The Government is going to have to reign in spending for instance and that’s one of their core beliefs. But even that most basic of concepts gets drowned out by all the “Obama is a Socialist,” fervor which scares off the sane people. Then there are the groups like Americans for Prosperity who exploit these poor bastards for their own gain. The Tea Baggers would be a lot more respectable if they would drop their association with lobbies and lay off the socialism scare tactics. The former contradicts their claim of being a grass roots organization and the latter is just flat out sensationalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">Think they don’t matter though? You may want to re-think that. Just look at Arizona, that’s a product of Tea Party Governance. A state that cut taxes so much that they’ve been forced to </span><a href="http://www.azcentral.com/travel/features/articles/2009/08/05/20090805azjournal0808.html"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">sell their capital building</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"> to raise revenue only to rent it back from the buyer! Yeah, that’s prudent spending. And there’s a </span><a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/congress-now-has-a-tea-party-caucus/"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">Tea Party caucus</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi- American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"> in the U.S. House of Representatives now. Clearly the right people are paying attention. Unfortunately the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">right</i> people aren’t always the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">best</i> people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-52959252262786925672010-06-04T10:22:00.000-07:002010-06-04T10:42:17.488-07:00Tea Baggin': My Secret Life with the Tea Party<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">My first exposure to the </span><a href="http://www.thegeorgiateaparty.org/"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">Georgia Tea Party</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi- American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"> was at a volunteer meeting held at the Cobb County public library. I expected maybe a handful of people and I wasn’t sure who or what to look for. When I pulled in the parking lot the first thing I saw was a young preppy guy (about 25 or 30) getting out of a car completely wrapped in decals from FairTax.org. This was a professional job; the car was like a moving billboard for not wanting to pay taxes. So I locked on Mr. FairTax, if anyone knows where this thing is, I thought, it’s him. And as I walked into the library I couldn’t help but sense irony in the fact that a bunch of people who don’t want to pay taxes are meeting at the PUBLIC library, you know the one that’s funded by tax dollars! Oh well, that surely won’t be the craziest thing to come out of tonight.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">I was stunned! This place was packed; besides me and preppy guy there were at least 60 people in the room! There were five or six under 30 years of age but the rest were mostly mid 50’s or early 60’s. I counted two minorities, both female. One was Asian (about 60) and the other Black (about 40). So demographic wise we basically had a bunch of old white people. Or to put it more accurately, a bunch of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">pissed off</i> old white people. This was about a week after Obama signed the new Health Care Bill into law and I kept hearing whispers from the crowd about “Socialism” and the “Mafia in the Whitehouse.” I was getting nervous, if these people figure out that I’m a godless liberal, they’ll tar and feather me or they might even tea bag me! So I was relieved when a kid in his mid 20’s, Michael, complete with a polo shirt and name tag adorned with the Tea Party logo, called the meeting to order. Mike gave a brief intro and railed on Healthcare for a minute to get the crowd fired up. And fired up they got, I heard cries such as, “They’re destroying our country!” and stop “Obama’s Tyranny!” Then something happened that surprised me. It was a voice of reason that came from a little old lady in the back of the room. In the past week there have been bricks thrown through windows and even death threats to Democratic lawmakers. This sweet little old lady was calling on people to be civil and she was no sooner shouted down by a hateful old bat that accused her of being a Democrat, which she wasn’t. This venomous old bitch, we’ll call her Jan, claimed the recent threats of violence against Democrats was a “set up” to make the Republicans look bad. Jan was a nuisance throughout the entire meeting. If she wasn’t interrupting then she was fawning over the few young people there and bringing the entire meeting to a halt. You have to understand that the Tea Baggers are desperate for youth in their movement. A few teenagers trickled in towards the end of the night and you would have thought Glenn Beck himself had walked in the room. Jan forced these precious little patriots into telling their stories to the crowd and I couldn’t help but think, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Good god! What are you poor bastards doing wasting the golden years of your youth at a Tea Party Meeting? You should be out chasing girls or at the very least hurling bricks through the windows of your local Democratic lawmaker!</i> Ah to be young. But I’ve gotten grossly off track here. Where was I? Oh right, Jan was in the middle of her tirade with one of the few sensible people there that night. Thankfully Mike was able to get her to shut up for five minutes and then we had the obligatory opening prayer, which was led by a volunteer from the crowd, we’ll call him Jimmy. A quick fun fact about Jimmy, he’s unemployed and someone like him has the potential to benefit the most from our new healthcare system but that’s not the fun part. The fun part is his former employer: AIG! How weird is that? But back to the meeting, now that everything has been consecrated Mike turns the meeting over to Virginia Galloway from </span><a href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/national-site"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">Americans For Prosperity</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi- American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">The AFP is a conservative advocacy group, which is a polite way of saying that it’s a lobby and Virginia is a lobbyist. Here’s a fun fact about Virginia: her babysitter was Newt Gingrich! So what chance did she have but to become a blood-sucking lobbyist for what she calls the “non-partisan” Americans For Prosperity. Ms. Galloway would basically run the rest of the meeting. In fact Michael, who I thought was leading the meeting, left and I didn’t see him for the rest of the night. The AFP is into all the stuff you would expect; free-market ideology, cutting taxes, limited government, and so on. I guess it’s a natural fit for the Tea Party mentality but I came there to listen to the Tea Baggers not some vampire lobbyist who doesn’t give a shit about these people but only her corporate benefactors; not least of which is the </span><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Family_Foundations"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">Koch Family Foundation</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">. Koch (arguably the nations largest privately held energy company) and Americans For Prosperity were behind the infamous </span><a href="http://www.hotairtour.org/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">Hot Air Tour</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi- American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"> that warned us against the dangers of global warming alarmism: lost jobs, higher taxes, and less freedom. Galloway was here tonight to shore up support for a big effort being taken up by Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue and the Republicans in the State Assembly to sue the federal government over the mandate that all citizens buy healthcare insurance. Oh yeah I almost forgot, Virginia was also there to pimp the Next Step Training seminar where you too can learn to promote the AFP agenda. But Ms. Galloway was really just the opening act for State Senator </span><a href="http://www.judsonhill.com/"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">Judson Hill (R)</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">, whom authored the legislation to exempt Georgia from the Healthcare mandate. But the good Senator is running a little late so we have a little Q&A session while we wait. First up is a woman in her early 50’s; we’ll call her Anne. Anne would like to know why the public could not vote on healthcare rather than let those fat cats in Washington muck everything up. Virginia told her that the Democrats probably would not want the public to vote on it but she also politely reminded Anne that we live in a REPUBLIC not a Democracy. Jesus Christ, I thought, this lady is old enough to be my mother and she doesn’t know that! Next came a young, borderline dwarf of a man who we’ll call Andy. Andy was in his early 20’s and very short but also fairly muscular, he had a very strange build and he said more than one thing about guns that night. Andy just got out of the Marine Corps and before I go any further here I want to say that I fully respect and appreciate Andy and the countless others who have sacrificed so much for our country. But having said all that doesn’t mean that Andy’s not a homophobic, 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment nut with a Napoleonic complex; which, leads me to why he was there that night: according to Andy a lot of the higher ranking officers are really fed up with all of the “shenanigans” that are going on with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In fact they are so fed up with the “commies” in D.C., that many of them would like to resign their post over the matter. But if they were to do that, they would forfeit their pension, benefits, and all the other things that come with serving your country honorably. What’s Andy advocating? Allowing members of the military who choose to resign if “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed, full access to their benefits. Now I’m not sure why Andy thought this would be a good forum to bring up this matter and even Virginia did not seem to want to go near this issue, but no one in the crowd seemed to object to what he was saying. So here’s what I say to people like Andy; first of all, do you honestly believe that gays are joining the military to pick up guys? You realize that gay members of the military are fully aware that they will be going to somewhere like Afghanistan not Spring Break on Fire Island? Secondly, you don’t think it sets a dangerous precedent to allow members of the military to resign every time they disagree with a policy? Further more when you make a commitment, whether it is the military or a business contract; you fulfill your part of the bargain or you don’t get paid; it’s that simple. But what I’ve come to learn about people like Andy, whether they are homophobes, gun nuts, or other extremists, is that they don’t really represent the Tea Party. People like Andy just tend to graft on to the Tea Party because they’re the only conservative movement that’s gaining any traction right now. Fuck, I said to myself, will someone save me from this ignorant rube? Wait whose this silvery haired gentleman entering the room? He’s impeccably dressed and adorned with a “Don’t Tread on Me” lapel pin. Could it be? Yes! It’s Senator Hill, here to save me from this madness! <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">Hill made the conversation sound a little more sophisticated than my friends Andy and Anne but he basically continued upon what Galloway was preaching. And speaking of preaching, he was telling it to the choir. The Tea Baggers ate up everything he said. Along with spearheading the effort to exempt Georgia from the healthcare mandate, Judson also wants to give the citizens of Georgia the ability to buy insurance across state lines but that effort was killed through a bipartisan effort in the State Assembly. “What are their names?” the crowd called out as if they were ready to get a posse together and string these guys up. Hill calmed the crowd and then continued on to a pretty standard Republican diatribe of the nations new healthcare plan; “socialized medicine,” “government takeover,” you know the standard stuff but my favorite was when Hill called the IRS the “Healthcare Police!” Oh the Tea Baggers loved that. Judson did have some ideas of his own though (well maybe not his own) like, TORT reform and of course allowing consumers to purchase insurance across state lines. Both of which, seem like reasonable proposals and I don’t know why the Democrats did not include them in their plan. But Hill lost me when he started comparing Medicaid to “crack dollars.” I had been there for over 2 hours and I hadn’t learned a damn thing about these people that I didn’t already know: they’re scared and angry. So I got the hell out of there and I was pissed because what was supposed to be a Tea Party meeting turned out to be nothing more than a forum for the agenda of Americans for Prosperity and State Senator Judson Hill. But I wasn’t done with Tea Party yet…<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-28034198501760150992010-05-08T17:43:00.000-07:002010-05-08T19:10:27.368-07:00An Open Letter to Congressman Phil Gingrey<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'American Typewriter', serif;font-size:6;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:19px;"> <!--StartFragment--> </span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'American Typewriter', serif;font-size:6;"><p class="MsoHeader" align="center" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">Re: A Better Way Forward<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style=" font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">Mr. Gingrey, in your </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi- American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><a href="http://gingrey.house.gov/news/email/show.aspx?ID=ZYNXZAIV4CSZV2X7YL6IWX6BEY"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">newsletter</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;"> this week you slammed President Obama and the rest of the Democrats in light of the new report released by the United States Department of Labor. Yes, the unemployment rate did rise from 9.7% to 9.9% but as the AP points out, that’s because </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Jobs-up-290000-jobless-rate-apf-560235210.html?x=0&.v=6"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">people who had given up on finding work are gaining confidence to go out and look for work.</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;"> And the Wall Street Journal, hardly a liberal bastion, goes on to say that, </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/05/07/why-did-the-unemployment-rate-rise/"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">“when people re-enter the market to begin a job hunt again, they boost the number of the unemployed until they find a new position, boosting the overall unemployment rate.”</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;"> In Your little tirade you ask, “Where are the jobs?” Well Phil, as it turns out there were 290,000 created in April, the biggest monthly total in four years! Should we be out dancing in the streets? No but the economy has clearly been brought back from the brink and your latest diatribe completely misrepresents the facts. As an elected official you owe your constituents better. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style=" font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style=" font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">But guess what Phil? We don’t disagree on everything. In your email you mention the current economic crisis in Greece and its effect on Wall Street. I absolutely agree with your contention that this should all “serve as a stark reminder and a lesson to Washington of the precariousness of growing debt and its devastating global consequences.” So I’m sure we can count on you to reign in Wall Street by voting on a strong financial reform bill that regulates big banks like Goldman Sachs (who played a big role in both the U.S. & Greek economic disasters) and creates a Consumer Protection Agency. But that’s not all we agree on! You go on to say that, “we need to ensure we are on better fiscal footing, with a balanced budget and a reduced federal debt.” Yes! I could not agree more! Then I guess we can also count on you to begin reigning in our bloated </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi- American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=12652"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">military budget</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">, because how could anyone who’s <i>really</i> serious about cutting spending and reducing the deficit not do so? It’s very encouraging to see your support on these issues.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style=" font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style=" font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">Lastly, in your newsletter you bring up your visit to Guantanamo Bay. As you point out, “the Obama Administration has been trying to close down Guantanamo Bay to ‘improve’ our world standing,” and after your third visit you say you are even <i>more</i> convinced that this is the wrong decision. I agree, in fact I think since you like it so much, you should stay! I’m sure it’s very quiet, so you can probably get a lot of work done. I mean what other congressman gets to have an office on the beach? And I hear that help is cheap and easy to come by. It’s just a thought Phil. Let me know what you decide, I’ll even help you pack!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style=" font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">Truly,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style=" font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">Your constituent in the 11<sup>th</sup> district of GA,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style=" font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">Chris McDaniel<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style=" font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;">May 8, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style=" font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-33183248620291025752010-04-30T08:01:00.000-07:002010-04-30T08:10:34.824-07:00A Beer With RJ Hadley<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/S9ryZUcWWbI/AAAAAAAAAFA/Jbh8p3qqdkA/s1600/4481_694271282715_9426539_40915664_7534322_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/S9ryZUcWWbI/AAAAAAAAAFA/Jbh8p3qqdkA/s200/4481_694271282715_9426539_40915664_7534322_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465947614565783986" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'American Typewriter', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span><!--StartFragment--></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'American Typewriter', serif;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It’s a beautiful Friday afternoon and as always, whenever I’m meeting someone for an interview, I’m so worried about being late that I end up arriving entirely too early. Today I’m meeting </span><a href="http://www.hadleyforussenate.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">RJ Hadley</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, who’s looking to sew up the Democratic nomination for the U.S senate, and I have an hour to kill inside the </span><a href="http://www.brickstorepub.com/home/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Brick Store Pub</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> before he gets here. The server comes over and asks if he can start me out with a drink. Well this is a working lunch, I thought to myself, so I better take it easy. “I’ll have two shots of whisky and a beer,” I tell the young lad. “Oh and a dozen raw oysters.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“We don’t have oysters sir.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“What! Well, what’s the closest thing you’ve got?”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Tuna steak?”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“All right, lay it on me but make it rare god damn it!”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The kid was back in no time with the drinks and I felt a little bad for giving him such a hard time about the shellfish. But I had a real lust that day for raw oysters, I explained to him, and when I get like that I can be a little crazy. The whisky and beer calmed me down and the Tuna was a little done for my taste but still pretty good all the same. I looked at the clock and it was nearly two, Jesus Christ! Hadley’s going to be here any minute and I’ve spent the last hour arguing about raw oysters; I haven’t even looked at my notes! No sooner than I get my notebook out, do I see RJ walk through the door. I quickly skimmed over my notes, which were written in something similar to the English language and would only make sense to me but to my surprise they were actually pretty good. I may get through this after all. Hadley picked me out the crowd pretty easily. RJ is a big guy with a bear grip of a handshake. He is not intimidating in the least but I had the feeling he could be if wanted to. Hadley ordered water and a turkey sandwich. I had another beer with the fish and chips and we got down to business. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Wait a minute; let’s back up to how I got this interview in the first place. A few weeks ago I was wondering who, if anyone, would be challenging our loathsome incumbent Senator Johnny Isakson (R) in the good ole’ red state of Georgia. And low and behold the only person I could find who was balls crazy enough to take on Johnny boy was the former Chief of Staff from Rockdale county; RJ Hadley (GA Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond announced his candidacy a few days after this interview took place). I started following RJ on Twitter to keep abreast of what he was up to and the first tweet I saw from him was a plug for his online store. Now bare in mind that I had been following Hadley for a week or so and this was the first thing that I saw him post and it pissed me off. I wanted to know how he was going to beat Isakson, not how much an RJ Hadley Snuggy was going to set me back. So I tweeted something close to what I just said above and this cheeky bastard not only replied to me, he offered to give me an interview! From that point on, without even meeting the guy, I liked him. It took moxie to call me on my shit and moxie is something that is greatly lacking in the 21</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">st</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> century politician. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Now where were we? Oh yeah, the pub and the nitty-gritty on RJ. As a child in rural New Jersey Hadley’s family lost their home to foreclosure, so even from a young age he was no stranger to hard times. To rise above the hard times, RJ’s family always taught him that “education was key” and through support from his family, church, scholarships, and a lot of hard work Hadley would eventually attend Dartmouth. Next it was on to law school at the University of Tennessee but RJ’s time there was cut short due to a family illness. Hadley would also excel in several IT ventures but it was in Atlantic City, as a social worker, that he found his passion for public service. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Public service “has a lot to do with the kind of candidate I am,” says Hadley.” “I know it’s kind of a catch word now but I am about the people. I can get wonky if you want to and we can sit down and get into the meat of it but that’s not my real interest. I’m interested in the policy issues as they relate to the guy that’s on the ground.” “Public Service,” he says. It’s right in there in the words “serve-the-public.” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">RJ cut his political teeth as a volunteer on the Obama campaign and would eventually become an Obama delegate at the 08 Convention in Denver. After the Convention RJ ran the campaign for Rockdale’s first African American Chairman of the County, Richard Oden. “It was one of those not gonna happen, never gonna happen in Rockdale County” kind of races. “My kind of race,” RJ says. After they won, Hadley was brought on as the Chief of Staff. There were those in Rockdale who were skeptical about RJ in his new role but then after about a month on the job “I wrote a grant for some foreclosure stabilization money and got the grant. It was about 2.7 million dollars, after that we were fine,” RJ says laughing. A lot of those same naysayers would end up becoming some of RJ’s most enthusiastic supporters for his senate bid. “Rockdale County has been very supportive.” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“So what encouraged you to run for the Senate,” I ask.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“A mix of things, I think the incumbent encouraged me just because of his approach and his attitude to things; just the overall environment and wanting to see things get better.” Make no mistake, Hadley does NOT want to be a career politician; in fact he thinks that’s part of the problem in Washington. “I think you go, you do the best job you can, and then you come home.” RJ rejects the notion of term limits though. Instead he seems to take the tact that, if elected, the voters will let him know when it’s time to hang things up.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">All right, enough with the background stuff, let’s “wonky” and find out where RJ stands on the issues.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Financial Reform: Hadley is basically on board with the Volker plan but stopped short of saying if he would vote on the bill as it stands right now in the Senate. “I don’t necessarily have a problem with big banks,” he says, but “My concern is what are those banks allowed to do.” RJ thinks that “banks should get back to being </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">banks</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">” and that other institutions should handle things like credit default swaps. Hadley went on to say that, “We need to establish again the guidelines of what a bank should be doing” and that he would support a return to Glass Steagall. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">When asked about healthcare reform the first thing RJ said was, “I really wanted to see a public option” and that he “believe(s) in healthcare as a right.” And what about Georgia Governor Perdue’s effort to sue the federal government over the healthcare mandate? “I feel like it’s a little disingenuous” and that it “just seems like political posturing.” Hadley dismisses the argument that all of this won’t cost anything and seems to think it’s kind of a waste of time, “It’s almost like the leadership, they pick these other things that they can focus on,” rather than focusing on the issues that matter; jobs, clean energy, and other things that are going to “create some new opportunities for Georgia.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Shifting gears, I really try to get RJ to come out for legalizing Marijuana but couldn’t get him to budge. He pretty much sees it as a gateway drug and worries about easier access of the drug to our youth, “That’s the social worker part of me” says Hadley. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Do you think there is a legitimate medicinal use for it?” I ask.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“That I don’t know,” says RJ, “I mean, I’ve never used it myself. I don’t really have any experience with…”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Never?”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“No. Never.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Never, ever smoked pot?” I say.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Never.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Never, wow.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“I know, I know,” says RJ. “I’ve lost a number of jobs over that because…”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Because you haven’t smoked pot?”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Yeah because it’s like,” ‘no you must be lying,’ he says laughing. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">But as far as medicinal use, RJ seems agnostic at best. “I guess if it deadens pain, which I guess is what they’re saying, it’s like hey I’m in pain and I smoke this pot and it takes the pain away; I guess there’s value there.” He doesn’t come off as judgmental about the whole thing but at the end of the day Hadley just worries about “any public policy initiative that’s going to make this drug possibly more accessible to our youth.” I guess that’s just the social worker coming out of him again. “But the economic argument,” for legalization he admits with a smile, “is hard to ignore.” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">So what about “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell?”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“End it,” RJ says, without nuance, then goes on to say that one-day, maybe not in our lifetime, we’ll look back on that policy as “silly.” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“What about gay marriage,” I ask.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“I’m a Christian ok.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Uh-oh.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“I’m for it.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Oh! Phew, He’s for it!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“I’m married, I want people to have the same rights that I have. It’s just that in my Christian belief there is no such thing as gay marriage, per say.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Wait what? “Let’s leave the spiritual aspect out it,” I say. “In the eyes of the government is it okay for two gay people to be married?”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Yes!” RJ says. When it comes to transferring property and being covered on your spouses health insurance, and all the other LEGAL benefits that come with getting married; “Why not?” he asks. “It’s just pure judgment,” to say that, “I don’t agree with your lifestyle, you’re a sinner,” that shouldn’t be in the argument at all, he says. There’s a “governmental realm and a spiritual realm” and RJ sees the importance of separating them. And when it comes to the argument against gay marriage, “If you take the spiritual aspect out of it?” Hadley asks. “What’s your argument? You-have-no-argument.” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Okay fair enough, “What about the War on Terror?”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“We spent $125 billion last year,” on both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan” and “$160 billion this year,” for something that is still questionable as to whether or not it’s, “making us safer.” RJ fully understands that there are people out there who want “to harm us, I get that” but he thinks that our money and resources could be spent better by “boosting foreign intelligence” and bringing in other diplomatic partners such as China and Russia. “This is a world issue, we can’t afford to be the ‘911’ for the world as much anymore.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Should we bring home the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“As a start, yes.” But the next part, according to Hadley, is bettering intelligence work through our various agencies and carrying out more strategic strikes. RJ believes that this is not a conventional war and can’t be fought as such. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“This isn’t us storming the beaches at Normandy,” I say.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“No, I think those days are behind us.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">But just as important as how we fight the War on Terror is what we do with our troops when we finally get them home. RJ thinks that the $160 billion we’ve already spent this year on the wars could be better spent on “getting our VA hospitals up to snuff” so we don’t have these “horror stories,” like Walter Reed. Then there’s the issue of destitute veterans; “why are there over a million of these vets,” he asks, “that are homeless on the streets?” Hadley suggests that a more robust GI Bill and a government jobs program could help alleviate these problems. “It’s one thing,” he says when the Republicans cry out for a strong national defense, “when you’re over there but when you come home” and </span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“you need services and support;” the GOP changes their tact to “well we’re not so much behind you anymore, you know, because now your taxing the system. You’re taking money out of my pocket.” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Climate change,” I ask next, “is it a problem and what do we need to do about it?”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“I think it’s a problem,” says RJ and “I believe that our actions are altering our world and environment.” Hadley says he would like to see us “have a bold vision toward clean energy” not only because of the environmental issues but also for national security reasons and the potential for jobs created by an influx of green technology. So how do we achieve all of this? Is a Carbon tax the answer? “I don’t know,” he says, “because that’s going to be a real big blow to Georgia,” and it’s agricultural economy. RJ does, however, see opportunities for wind and solar power in Georgia but is skeptical about nuclear, “my problem with nuclear is that, I just think we haven’t solved what we’re going to do with the waste.” Hadley’s not too crazy about Cap and Trade either, “I think for Georgia it’s going be a real strain,” if we go to Cap and Trade. In my opinion RJ sees the scope of the problem here but like most of us doesn’t know what the hell we should do about it. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">So that’s how it went down at the Brick Store Pub. And how do I feel after sitting down with the prospective senator for an hour? A little buzzed, the beer was rather strong, and Jesus Christ I’m stuffed! A tuna steak and an order of fish and chips, what was I thinking? But oh yeah about Hadley, he hasn’t been in politics long enough to be poisoned by it and in my book that’s a big plus. He wants to bring the troops home, also a big plus. He’s for repealing “Don’t ask Don’t Tell” and is pro gay marriage (at least in the legal terms and for me that’s the whole argument), which is another plus. He wants universal healthcare; plus, plus! I would liked to have seen him take a stronger stance on financial reform but he did say he was on board with a return to Glass Steagall and that’s a hell of a lot more than you would get out of most politicians. I disagree with him on Marijuana but he makes a reasonable argument. My biggest disagreement with him though is his views on what to do on climate change, specifically on a carbon tax. I understand a tax is never popular but we can’t truly begin to combat climate change until we start to ask people to make sacrifices and some of those sacrifices will have to come out of our wallet. But the real question is would I vote for him? In a heartbeat! Compared to anyone else running for the senate (especially the reigning douche bag Isakson) RJ is a welcomed breath of fresh air. So come next fall, if I have anything to say about it, he’ll be on his way to Washington.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="American Typewriter"font-family:";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="American Typewriter"font-family:";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="American Typewriter"font-family:";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="American Typewriter"font-family:";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="American Typewriter"font-family:";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="American Typewriter"font-family:";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="American Typewriter"font-family:";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="American Typewriter"font-family:";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="American Typewriter"font-family:";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="American Typewriter"font-family:";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-27036655248580851272010-03-31T07:44:00.000-07:002010-03-31T07:50:37.811-07:00ObamaCare: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/S7NgUkPtLLI/AAAAAAAAAD4/AADlvLFq3gE/s1600/cowboy-obama1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 136px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/S7NgUkPtLLI/AAAAAAAAAD4/AADlvLFq3gE/s200/cowboy-obama1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454809480119004338" /></a><br /><br /><!--EndFragment--> <div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Verdana, serif;font-size:6;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> <!--StartFragment--> </span></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Verdana, serif;font-size:6;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:130%;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana">There’s a lot of good things about ObamaCare and some bad too, like the fact that it puts us on a slippery slope heading towards Soviet era Russia! Well, not really but there are some bad things about our new healthcare plan and some that are just plain ugly. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana">THE GOOD: 32 million uninsured Americans will now be covered! That is very good or as Joe Biden would say, </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHKq9tt50O8"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana">“A big fucking deal!”</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"> Another boon for the average American is that Insurance companies will no longer be able to discriminate for pre-existing conditions and according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office the plan will </span><a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100323/D9EKB66O0.html#The%20nonpartisan%20Congressional%20Budget%20Office%20said%20the%20bill%20awaiting%20Obama's%20signature%20would%20cut%20federal%20budget%20deficits%20by%20an%20estimated%20$143%20billion%20"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana">reduce</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"> the national deficit! More good news comes in the form of tax credits for families making up to $88,000 a year and the expansion of Medicaid for the poor. Finally insurance companies will no longer be able to place </span><a href="http://dpc.senate.gov/healthreformbill/healthbill64.pdf"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana">lifetime caps</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"> on coverage and must report how much money they spend on medical care versus administrative costs. That last bit is a step that will be followed up by tighter government evaluation of premium increases. Now lets talk about my favorite part of the bill, and that’s who is going to pay for the bulk of this thing: THE RICH! <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ake7tOWwUT6E">Higher Medicare taxes</a> on individuals making more than $200,000 and couples clearing more than $250,000 a year will pay for a huge chunk of this bill. And for the first time ever a new tax will be levied on investment income from the same high earners mentioned above. The new tax (3.8%) will apply to capital gains, dividends, and interest. It will NOT apply to 401(k) accounts and other retirement plans until the funds are withdrawn. And remember this is only for households making over $250,000 a year. When the new tax rates go into effect in 2013 the New York Times </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/business/24leonhardt.html?sudsredirect=true"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana">reports</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"> from a study by the </span><a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/index.cfm"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana">Tax Policy Center</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana"> that on average $1 million plus earners will contribute $46,000 in taxes to Obama’s evil Commie healthcare that will destroy the middle class! I’m paraphrasing a little but the numbers are solid I swear! The Good can be summed like this: a lot of people who did not have insurance are going to get it and the rich are going to pay for it. This is a clear reversal of the trickle up deregulate philosophy of Reaganomics and that is why the Republicans, i.e. the elite are so bent out of shape about this. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Times">Oh yeah, there is one last bit of good I want to pass on here and this is especially for those of you who think that the mandate violates your civil rights. There is a </span><a href="http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourHealth/health-care-reform-who-must-buy-insurance.aspx"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Times">LOOPHOLE!</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Times"> That’s right, if you can convince the government that you practice Christian Science or some other religion that does not believe in medical treatment you can be exempted from the mandate!</span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"><o:p> Now on to…</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"><o:p> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana">THE BAD: No public option! That is my least favorite thing about this. Healthcare will not be truly reformed until it’s taken out of the for profit mind set. Which leads me to my next point; this is a giveaway to the insurance companies! While we’re giving people easier access to healthcare, we are in effect subsidizing the insurance industry and I’m not too crazy about that. I think the Republicans are just mad that they didn’t think of this thing first! Another problem with the legislation is that, thanks to President Obama’s </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/13/internal-memo-confirms-bi_n_258285.html"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana">sweetheart deal</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"> with PHARMA, the government will not have the power to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs or be able to import cheaper ones from Canada. Lastly, there’s the </span><a href="http://dpc.senate.gov/healthreformbill/healthbill65.pdf"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana">timeline</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana">. The majority of this stuff, the insurance exchanges for one, don’t go into effect until 2014. And the </span><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/proposal/whatsnew/cost-sustainability"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana">40% tax</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"> on insurance companies that offer the so-called Cadillac Plans? That does not go into effect until 2018! The wheels are moving entirely to slow on this thing.</span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"><o:p> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana">THE UGLY: Within days of Obama signing the healthcare bill into law, officials from 14 states announced they would sue the federal government, deeming it unconstitutional to require all citizens to purchase a healthcare plan. Think that’s ugly? We’re just getting warmed up; last week Senate Republicans, through invoking an </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/24/gop-senators-refusing-to_n_511639.html?just_reloaded=1"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana">obscure rule</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana">, refused to work past 2pm. This pettiness resulted in the shut down of the Veteran Affairs Committee’s hearing on helping homeless veterans. Then came the </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032402122_pf.html"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana">threats of violence</span></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana">; Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) received a cryptic voice mail, “You’re dead. We know where you live. We will get you.” And a gas line was severed at the home of </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Times">Rep. Tom Perriello’s (D-VA) brother, after a Tea Party website posted what they believed to be the congressman’s address. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In all at least 10 Democratic lawmakers have reported threats of violence or acts of vandalism. But the most ugly thing to come out of all this is that the Republicans have once again tricked the middle class (I’m talking to you Tea Baggers) into voting against their own interests. It seems that the people who are the most vehemently against this are the ones who could benefit the most from ObamaCare.</span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family: Times"><o:p> It’s been nice to see Obama finally grow a pair and it seems that the Dems are poised to use the momentum from their healthcare victory on reigning in the financial sector and taking action on climate change. I could be wrong but that guy in the White House is starting to look more and more like the guy he campaigned to be. </o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div>Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-21863152439012256052010-02-26T09:11:00.000-08:002010-02-26T09:37:23.647-08:00FUN WITH GUNS: AN INSIDER ACCOUNT OF AMERICAS TORRID LOVE AFFAIR WITH FIREARMS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/S4gDOcXK6GI/AAAAAAAAADo/F_cadx60lgw/s1600-h/DSC01649.JPG"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/S4gCEAZUrqI/AAAAAAAAADg/zEo1T6xGOpA/s1600-h/DSC01649.JPG"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/S4gBPQi9HMI/AAAAAAAAADY/LfFv_kvGuL8/s1600-h/IMG_0132.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 144px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/S4gBPQi9HMI/AAAAAAAAADY/LfFv_kvGuL8/s200/IMG_0132.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442601511328488642" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;text-indent: 0.5in; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'American Typewriter', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;text-indent: 0.5in; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'American Typewriter', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'American Typewriter', serif;font-size:20px;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:-webkit-xxx-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:6;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:20px;"> <!--StartFragment--> </span></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:6;"><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'American Typewriter', serif;"><br /></span></p> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:6;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:20px;"> <!--StartFragment--> </span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:6;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">The Gun Show was at Jim Miller Park in Marietta GA. I was edgy being there, I thought for certain this place would be filled with gun toting lunatics who would surely spot me for the flaming commie liberal that I am but my fears were somewhat put at ease when I read the sign at the front:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:15.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">CHECK ALL FIREARMS AND LOOSE AMMO AT DOOR<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">Well I guess that made me feel a little better, at least when I’m found out for who I really am these ignorant bastards will be a little less likely to mow me down in a hail of bullets. But the further I got into the show I found that I was the one being ignorant. I mean don’t get me wrong, there were a couple of scary looking people walking around, but to my surprise I found the crowd to be very nice and sociable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Turns out that a Gun Show is basically a flea market with guns and this one had a little bit of everything: assault rifles, swords, tasers, jewelry, and even Snuggies! I can only imagine how comforting it must be to clean your brand new double barreled shot gun while cozily wrapped up in a warm toasty Snuggy. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">What surprised me more than the warmness of the people there was the ease in which one can buy a gun in Georgia. Whether you’re buying a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>.38 Snub Nose Revolver or an M4 Carbine Semi-Automatic Assault rifle, all it takes is a simple phone call and, providing that you’re not a felon, you can walk out of the Gun Show with your Great Equalizer that very same day! <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;">Next on the hit parade I came upon author, former Marine, and self proclaimed professional irritant Tom Baugh. Tom was pimping his book <a href="http://www.StarvingTheMonkeys.com/index.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Starving The Monkeys.</i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></i>The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Monkeys</i> in that ominous sounding title are not what you might think. </span><span style="font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:15.0pt;">According to a </span><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2440749/posts?page=2"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-;font-family:Arial;font-size:15.0pt;">review</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-size:15.0pt;"> of the book on freerepublic.com “Monkeys are </span><span style="font-size:15.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Times;font-size:16.0pt;">the looters and moochers who essentially dine from the plates of the producers through the tax and legal structures they have put in place.” When I asked Tom what his book was about he called it a modern day </span><span style="font-size:15.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-;font-family:Times;font-size:16.0pt;">Atlas Shrugged</span></a></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter"; mso-bidi-font-family:Times;font-size:16.0pt;">. From what I can gather the book seems to advocate that productive members of society “starve” the Monkeys by withholding their productive efforts. The “Producers” as Baugh likes to call them should not do this by refusing to pay taxes but by “…temporarily throttling back on their productive output, and thereby hastening the fall of the Monkey collective.” I’m not sure that America can throttle back anymore than it already has but maybe I’m just surrounded by Monkeys all the time!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Times;font-size:16.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'American Typewriter', serif;">Further weirdness came in the form of families selling guns. I saw a Mother, Father, and two daughters eerily sitting in front of a table of rifles all pointing at them like some kind of bizarre self induced firing squad. Creepier still were all the toy guns to get junior indoctrinated early on. Don’t get me wrong I believe in the right to bare arms but I just don’t understand the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">enthusiasm</i> part of being a Gun Enthusiast. But then I’ve never shot a gun.</span></span></p><!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:-webkit-xxx-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/S4gDOcXK6GI/AAAAAAAAADo/F_cadx60lgw/s200/DSC01649.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442603696343672930" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Times;font-size:16.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Times;font-size:16.0pt;">If I was intimated at the Gun Show just imagine how I felt when I entered </span><a href="http://nicks-guns.com/"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Times;font-size:16.0pt;">Nick’s Guns</span></a><span style="font-size:15.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Times;font-size:16.0pt;">, a gun store and shooting <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>range. But just like the gun show I was in for another surprise. Nick’s is a family owned and operated joint and the people working there put me at ease immediately. I had never shot a gun before and they wanted to set me up with a .22 but I said, “Fuck That, give me a real gun!” So the guy laid a 9mm on me and showed me how the puppy worked. It was a pretty quick demo and to be honest I was little nervous but I figured as long as I didn’t point it at myself or anyone else I’d be fine. Now in case no one has told you, a gun range is loud, I mean really loud, the only thing louder is maybe Kiss in concert. I was nervous on my first clip, I was afraid the fucker was gonna knock me backwards through the wall but I held it like the guy showed me, gritted my teeth and pulled the trigger. You wanna know what it feels like to shoot a gun? You know how your Xbox controller vibrates when your playing Call Of Duty? Multiply that feeling by like a million and soak the controller in LSD and you might be close. It’s shocking, and thrilling at the same time but kinda scary too. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I went through about 50 rounds of ammo which took me about 20 minutes and I had no desire to shoot anymore. It wasn’t that I was disgusted or anything, to be honest I’ll probably do it again, but I was just done. It was very similar to the feeling you have after 20 minutes of insane and dirty sex; you just wanna smoke a cigarette and have a nap. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Times;font-size:16.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family:"American Typewriter";mso-bidi-font-family:Times;font-size:16.0pt;">So after my brief stint in the gun world do I understand America’s obsession with guns? Kinda. I absolutely believe that people should have the right to firearms and it is without a doubt FUN to shoot a gun but having said all that I feel that it’s entirely too easy to obtain a gun. I mean we make people get a license to drive a car. Surely a gun is just as dangerous, if not more so, than an automobile. Now I know my Gun Enthusiast friends will say a gun is a right and driving a car is a privilege. I disagree, just as there are some people who should not be able to drive a car (any given day on the connector down town will prove my point on that) there are some who should not be able to go anywhere near a gun. I don’t wanna take away your guns I just don’t want every idiot with a pulse to be able to own one. So until next time, keep your powder dry and your steel clean and the next time you’re at the range that sweaty beady eyed, adrenaline fueled brute in the next lane just might be me! </span><span style="font-size:15.0pt;mso-bidi-American Typewriter"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-92072698484823865642009-11-23T20:56:00.000-08:002009-11-23T20:58:30.168-08:002013: A Blog From The Future<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica"> It's the year 2013 and we have discovered how to send messages back through time via a nifty new iphone app but we still can't figure out how to get people health insurance in this country. If I've timed this whole thing right then you should be reading this soon after the Health Care Reform moves into the Senate. The current version of the bill, current meaning 2009, is a big sloppy wet dream for the insurance companies and it only gets worse from here on out. The public option is totally stripped and the mandate that people who cannot afford insurance purchase a private plan or face a fine stays in with a vengeance. Yes, the insurance companies are no longer able to refuse coverage based on preexisting conditions but premiums have gone through the roof to compensate. Plans are so expensive that the government's subsidies to help those who cannot afford insurance have done little more than help increase the profits of BlueCignEta, oh yeah I forgot to mention that in the future all health insurance is provided by one giant corporation which is a subsidiary of Halliburton which is now owned by Wal-Mart. Sound bad? You haven't heard anything yet. Voters in 2012 were so frustrated with Obama and the rest of the Democrats for bungling healthcare that they elected Sara Palin. In her campaign Palin promised to do away with Obamacare but once everything went to effect in early 2013 and she realized what a boon it was for the insurance industry she kept it! And it was Vice President Michelle Bachmann who came up with the idea of making it a federal crime to go uninsured. So now the prison population is overflowing, which is good for Wal-Mart since they own all the prisons, and poverty is at an all time high. We're also in a full fledged war with, no not Iran, Canada! It's a really long story that I can't get into now but it all started with the bacon shortage of 2011 and then things got really out of hand. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>So as you can see things are really bad. But there is hope. With the help of my rag tag band of friends here in the future we've managed to trace everything back to the one moment in time when everything turned sour and it's right now. This very moment as you read this our elected leaders are putting the finishing touches on the future of our health care system and if you want to avoid the dystopian society that I currently live in you have to let them know you are not ok with the way things are going. First of all things are taking too long. We need health care reform now, not in 2013, now! We managed to bail out the banks in a weekend I think we can in act at least some kind of meaningful healthcare reform in less than four years. Secondly, the provision to fine people who cannot afford healthcare is asinine and should be removed. Lastly, we need a public option, which would cancel out the formerly mentioned fines. So tell it to your elected leaders, tell it to your friends, tell it to your family and anyone else who will listen or doesn't want to listen and save the future! And for God's sake please start conserving your bacon! </p>Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-30717111028790834482009-10-12T08:23:00.000-07:002009-10-12T08:49:51.269-07:00Hey America, SODA IS NOT A STAPLE!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/StNLIHP4NuI/AAAAAAAAACo/Yiz_iKiJeu4/s1600-h/new-york-soda-ad.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 147px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/StNLIHP4NuI/AAAAAAAAACo/Yiz_iKiJeu4/s200/new-york-soda-ad.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391735781649299170" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The airwaves have been bombarded as of late with and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxIwwrO2JYg">ad</a> from <a href="http://www.nofoodtaxes.com/">Americans Against Food Taxes </a>that warns of Washington's secret evil plan to tax us on the sugar laden goo we pour down our collective fat ass diabetic throats everyday. The commercial is narrated by a struggling single mother who is "counting pennies," but apparently not calories, to get through this economy. The proposed soda tax is a measure to fund health care reform and curb America's growing-pun intended-obesity epidemic. The plan for a penny per ounce tax on soda and other sugary beverages could raise as much as <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brownell6-2009oct06,0,4876212.story">$150 billion annually over the next ten years</a> but to our struggling mom in the ad from AAGT, a front group for the soda industry, those "pennies add up" when your trying to feed your roly-poly family! The average American drinks 50 gallons of sugared beverages annually, that's the average American, I'm pretty sure I've seen people walking out of Quick Trip with a 50 gallon fountain drink just to hold them over until lunch. So what's the consequence of slurping down all that sugary slime? Besides thousands of dollars wasted, there's the fact that soda has absolutely no nutritional value at all and that a high consumption of sugary beverages has been <a href="http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/10387">linked</a> not only to obesity and diabetes, but to kidney disease and osteoporosis. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal; ">But the big beverage companies complain that it's unfair to pick on soda when there are so many other factors that contribute to America's miserable health. And in a strategy straight out of the big tobacco playbook, big soda is claiming that a beverage tax would disproportionately affect the poor; when in fact the poor tend to suffer from <a href="http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/526/homeless-facts.html">ailments</a> brought on by heavy amounts of sugar, such as diabetes, and would benefit the most from programs, like universal health care, that could be at least be partially funded through revenue generated from a soda tax. As for the "other factors" that contribute to our deteriorating health? We already tax booze, cigarettes, and even porn for some reason (though I have discovered through my own tireless research that pornography is actually beneficial to ones health) and soda is not any different from those afore mentioned vices (with the exception of porn of course) in that it has no nutritional value. We need to start putting soda and all the other crap that passes for food these days into the same category as alcohol and tobacco. Is the super-sized extra value double bypass cheeseburger meal as bad as a pack of smokes? Probably not, but it's definitely in the same ball park and if paying a few extra CENTS for the vices we all love, and should only indulge in occasionally, can encourage us to eat better and pay for beneficial social programs such as universal health care, I say bring it on. And to all my paranoid friends out there: a soda tax is not Big Brother coming after our food supply, soda is NOT food anyway, but that's not what Big Soda and their front groups would have you believe. And to all my fiscally conservative friends out there who want REAL CHANGE: if you want change sometimes you have to pay for it, literally. So America don't be fooled by these corporate pricks, they're not interested in saving you money only they're bottom line. And stop wining about the cost of your favorite corn syrup loaded treat. It won't kill you to drink a glass of water every now and then but that Big Gulp just might.</span></span></p>Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-24324578228503885042009-10-02T11:08:00.001-07:002009-10-02T11:29:14.180-07:00An Hour with Glenn Beck<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Arial; min-height: 20.0px"></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 29px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">On Monday September 21, 2009 </span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 29px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I forced myself to watch an entire episode </span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 29px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">of Glenn Beck.</span></p> <p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 22px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Here's, more or less, what happened:</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center; font: 23.0px Helvetica; min-height: 28.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></p><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 140px; height: 140px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6gagvFtiSog/SsZFMObAOsI/AAAAAAAAACg/Iw2iGkAreNA/s200/glenn_beck_scrawls_wild_conspiracy_theories_on_a_c.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388070080527481538" /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>First things first, if I'm going to get through this I need to be in the right frame of mind. That's why I've got a fifth of Canadian whisky. I've also unplugged my DVR because if I give myself the ability to pause the program I'll never get through this and I figure I'm going to need those commercial breaks to cleanse my palette of Beck. When five o'clock rolls around I pour myself a glass of Crown and ready myself for the insanity. The theme of the show today is "President Obama in His Own Words" an exclusive with Glenn Beck. Wait I haven't drank nearly enough whisky to hear something that crazy! The President is going to be on Beck's show? Well, it could be true, he did make one hell of a blitz on the Sunday programs this week and he is trying to win over that special breed of people that actually enjoy Glenn's show. But then Beck let's me and the rest of the viewers in on the joke; President Obama will not in fact be on the show. Instead Glenn will be playing a bunch of clips of Obama and then giving his take on them. Well Goddamn it that's not an exclusive! Isn't that what all these pundit shows do every night? I'm not even five minutes into this thing and Beck has already pissed me off! But that's what I got the booze for. So I pour another glass of whisky <span style="font: 18.0px Arial">and try to relax. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Arial; min-height: 20.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Next Glenn unveils a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akZx48Nedg0">bizarre looking flow chart </a>on a chalk board which seems to indicate an Axis of Evil between the Organizations of <a href="http://www.soros.org/">SOROS</a>, <a href="http://www.tides.org/">TIDES</a>, <a href="http://www.healthcareforamericanow.org/">Health Care for Americans Now</a>, <a href="http://apolloalliance.org/">The Apollo Alliance</a>, <a href="http://www.seiu.org/index.php">SEIU,</a> and of course the <a href="http://albany.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2009/09/28/daily15.html">notorious</a> <a href="http://www.acorn.org/">ACORN</a> group. Now I don't know a lot about these groups but from what Glenn Beck is telling me, and mind you I'm heavily into the Crown by now, they are apparently working together on a secret evil plan to ram a single payer health care system down our throats! I knew those bastards were up to something and I'm sure ACORN wants to work in a <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,550403,00.html">brothel</a> for teenage girls as well. At least they'll have good health care, but I digress, next comes one of Glenn's favorites: the Czars! Many of the so called Czars have worked with some of the afore mentioned groups, and I say so called Czars because the title of Czar does not actually apply to two of Beck's targets in this segment; former Green Jobs Czar Van Jones and FCC Czar Mark Lloyd. Van Jones'<a href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/food-for-everyone/van-jones-why-i2019m-going-to-washington"> job description</a> was that of Special Advisor to the White House Council on Environmental Quality and Mark Lloyd's <a href="http://www.fcc.gov/ogc/lloyd.html">official title</a> at the FCC is Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer. Glenn just likes to throw around words like "Czar" to scare the shit out of his viewers into believing that President Obama is trying to turn our country into something resembling a love child between Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. But I'm getting off track again. What Beck is trying to get across here is that there is a very cozy relationship between organizations such as the Apollo Alliance, whom Van Jones' served on, and the Czars. To really drive home his point Glenn plays a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y0-n369XXA">few clips</a> of the evil Czars and the President using words like "Re-distribute" and "Wealth" in the same sentence and it immediately comes apparent to me and the rest of the audience that these fuckers are trying to indoctrinate the nation with socialism! The worst "Ism" of them all! Thank God a commercial drink, I mean break.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Arial; min-height: 20.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>If there's anything more creepy than Beck and his program, it's his sponsors. I've had quite a bit to drink by now, in fact I'm watching the TV with one eye closed just to keep from seeing double, but I swear I just saw a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ9rQgWousU">commercial</a> with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Liddy">G. Gordon Liddy</a> trying to get me to invest in gold! I never thought I could be so glad to see Glenn's doughy face when the show finally comes back on, I mean anything's better than watching a vampire like Liddy trying to sell me on gold; that's enough to sober anyone up. Out of the break Beck plays a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vybB2gWokDc">clip</a> of President Obama repudiating former President Jimmy Carter's contention that much of the criticism as of late is based on racism. In response to this Glenn says, "Good, thank you," as if Obama were talking directly to him. Then I start to wonder does this loon actually believe that <i>he </i>is interviewing the President? Maybe he likes to have a little whisky during his show too! Or maybe he's just a really emotional guy because next Glenn's voice gets all soft, and his eyes get that misty on the verge of tears look and he starts to profess how much he loves this country and how he is scared that Obama is going to fundamentally change the entire system; which brings us back to our Axis of Evil from earlier. You see it's this "Coalition," as Beck likes to call it, that will allow Obama to bring about a, "Re-Distribution," of wealth. So we better watch the fuck out and invest in Gold like Liddy says before Obama, ACORN, and Van Jones take all of our money! And not only do these commie bastards want all of our money; they want to take over what Glenn calls, "the best health care system in the world." Don't believe we have the best health care in the world? Just listen to these glowing reviews he gave our health care system when he had <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8dsqLDtfWQ">surgery in 2008</a>: "phenomenally bad," and one of the, "darker moments in my life." It was so good that he claimed he even became, "suicidal." Our current health care system has flaws yes, but it's still the best in the world, even if it makes you want to kill yourself. Just when I think Beck cannot possibly top himself he really puts the icing on the cake by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vybB2gWokDc">exonerating</a> <a href="http://www.joewilson.house.gov/">Joe Wilson (R-SC)</a>. In a speech to a joint session of congress President Obama stated that his health care plan would not insure illegal immigrants and <a href="http://www.joewilson.house.gov/">Congressman </a>Wilson Shouted out, <a href="http://usat.gannett.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/gannett-usatoday-206-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=immersiveproduction&maven_referralPlaylistId=playlist&maven_referralObject=1248713495">"You lie!"</a> on live television. Wilson was later ridiculed by both parties but then the President made the mistake of calling for immigration reform which in Glenn Beck's tiny mind is tantamount to flat out amnesty; ergo Wilson was right. The President is a dirty liar! </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Arial; min-height: 20.0px"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Glenn goes on a bit of a rant now; scolding the President for treating us like "morons" and how he needs to stop listening to "the media, the celebrities and the elite!" Obama might be taking cues from the elite, and that may or may not be a bad thing, depending on your definition of "the elite" but I don't think he's getting advice from Angelina Jolie and Wolf Blitzer. Well maybe he's getting advice from Blitzer's beard but that's it. As for treating us like morons, well here's the thing; every night these pundits and so called journalists make outrageous claims about the President and he is forced to defend himself from their absurd accusations. Beck himself has implied on more than one occasion that the President is a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9GOk_sXt9I">socialist</a> and even a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI_0Kt_e3Go">racist</a>, and these are the least of the crazy things that are said about him. Don't even get me started on the <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/palin-obamas-death-panel-could-kill-my-down-syndrome-baby.php">Death Panels</a> and the <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19450.html">Birthers</a>. Look, this is going to be tough for you to hear America but If you believe half of what comes out of someone like Glenn Beck's mouth, YOU ARE A MORON, and you should be treated accordingly. But it's not entirely your fault, Beck can be pretty manipulative, in fact I feel a little more stupid myself after watching him for an hour. Wait, has it been an hour? Sweet Christ I can't believe I made it through the entire show! Well if this isn't an excuse to have a drink I don't know what is but to my horror I've found my bottle of Crown is bone dry! Not only has Glenn raped me emotionally and intellectually for the past hour; the bastard made me drink all my booze! Oh God, Liddy is back and this time he's pimping Cialis, I gotta get to the liquor store! </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Arial; min-height: 20.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Arial; min-height: 20.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Arial; min-height: 20.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Arial; min-height: 20.0px"><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-1255517896159251892009-09-18T10:01:00.000-07:002009-09-20T18:24:46.886-07:00Perception VS Fact in U.S. Policy<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>From the battle over health care reform to the U.S boycotting the U.N racism conference; why is it that U.S. policy is continuously shaped by the public perception of things rather than actual facts? Last April the United Nations held its second <a href="http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/09/0082642">World Conference on Racism</a> and the United States boycotted the event because it was <i>perceived</i> as anti-Semitic. Now how, you may ask, could an event specifically targeted to combat racism be itself racist? Well most of it has to do with the first conference held in Durban, South Africa of 2001. The controversy started at the Non-Government Organization forum where the Arab Lawyers Union handed out a pamphlet depicting Jews with bloody fangs and hook noses. The NGO forum and it's participants are in no way affiliated with the U.N. and it's members; civil gatherings such as these, whether or not they're participants act <i>civil, </i>are standard operating procedure at something like the Durban conference. The resulting Manifesto that came out of the NGO forum was a detestable document that equated Zionism with racism and those sympathetic to Israel, or those simply with a heart beating in their chest, should have been disgusted by it; which is why the U.N. condemned the NGO forum and did not allow one to take place at the second conference known as Durban II. So just to re-cap, U.N. not racist; some people at an event that does not represent the views of the U.N., racist. End of story right? Wrong. Long after Durban I critics still claimed that the conference was an anti-Semitic hate-fest. Here are a few excerpts from the Declaration that resulted from the first conference:</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica; color:#4a2387;"><span style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; text-decoration: underline"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLK124699"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Paragraph 63: </i><span style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; text-decoration: underline"><i>We are concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people under foreign occupation. We recognize the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of and independent State and we recognize the right of security for all States in the region including Israel, and call upon all States to support the peace process and bring it to an early conclusion.</i></span></a></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica; min-height: 18.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica; color:#4a2387;"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLK124699"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Paragraph 61: We recognize with deep concern the increase in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in various parts of the world, as well as the emergence of racial and violent movements based on racism and discriminatory ideas against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities.</i></a></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica; min-height: 18.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica; color:#4a2387;"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLK124699"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Paragraph 58: We recall that the Holocaust must never be forgotten.</i></a></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica; min-height: 18.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></i>Do any of the above statements sound like the ravings of discriminatory lunatics? Of course not. What's even more puzzling is that Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres praised the Durban Declaration as "an accomplishment of the first order for Israel." Then why has the U.S. Government and the public at large <i>perceived</i> the Durban conference's to be a hot bed for bigotry when the facts clearly do not back up that perception? </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica; min-height: 18.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>This phenomenon of allowing perception to trump facts is prevalent in U.S. domestic policy as well. Take for example the, "Deather," movement that was spawned from a benign portion of the Democrats health care proposal. The End of Life Counseling Provision would be a completely voluntary process that would assist seniors in choosing or refusing certain types of health care and other decisions that we all have to make at the end of our lives. Critics, most notably Sara Palin, have managed to twist this into some sort of government mandated euthanasia program. The perception in the mind of the public that President Obama was creating "Death Panels" would soon lead the Democrats to remove the End of Life Counseling provision from the bill. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica; min-height: 18.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>If these trends continue, what's next? Will Obama cave to the "Birthers?" It seems ridiculous but the very notion that a movement such as the Birther's can catch on is just as ludicrous as the idea that the president would appease these nut cases by admitting that he is in fact not an American citizen! Or perhaps President Bush will finally admit to the "Truthers" that yes, he was in fact behind 9/11! How does this stuff catch on? Are Americans that stupid? Is it the media that fans the flames on these seemingly fringe movements that become more mainstream everyday? I think a case can be made for both arguments. One things for certain though; allowing perceptions rather than facts rule our lives has already cost us what could have been an important moment in battling racism the world over as well as an important measure in health care reform. Until the citizens in this country start dealing in FACTS and demand that their leaders do the same we will continue to make the same mistakes in the future. <i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></i></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></i></p>Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1983457360003323865.post-79291588562023755052009-09-11T14:20:00.000-07:002009-09-11T18:19:06.931-07:00Blood Lust At The Civic Center<p style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 18px Helvetica; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15;">On August 31, 2009 Congressman Phil Gingrey from the 11th District of Georgia held a town hall meeting to discuss health care reform. Here's, more or less, what happened:</span></p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span> Upon entering the Cobb Civic Center I knew I was a pilgrim in a strange land. I was immediately flanked by a pretty little republican with an Anti-Obama care leaflet, "We're collecting 100,000 signatures to oppose Obama's health care proposal that we plan to hand deliver to Nancy Pelosi," she cried. I politely told her thanks but no thanks and then entered the civic center where the blood lust in the air was palpable. After the obligatory invocation by a local minister, Congressman Phil Gingrey took the stage and was greeted by the crowd like a rock star. Gingrey looks as if he came off an assembly line from a factory that manufactures politicians. He comes complete with a beautifully fitted suit, capped teeth, and a charming southern accent. The crowd from Georgia's 11th district, "The Fighting 11th!" is predominantly Republican so the night was going to be a home run for Gingrey and he knew it. First to wet the crowds appetite for the liberal blood letting to come, a short propaganda film was shown. It was a sloppy piece of work basically comparing the current fight for health care reform to the failed efforts by the Clinton administration in the 90's, better known as "Hillary Care." I don't know that the film had the effect on me that Gingrey was going for but it did serve to remind me that only the Democrats could control the House, Senate, and The White House, and still fuck this thing up. </p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span> Next came the Q&A from the audience. From the woman with the pace maker who was afraid that the democrats would not replace her battery to the man who was sure that a public health care plan would disproportionately benefit criminals, it was immediately apparent to me that the Fear had taken hold of these people; and Gingrey feed on that fear like a leach sucking on a bloody wound. Under a government run plan he warned that there would be a "rationing" of care and he also spoke of the dangers of having a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor, which is apparently worse than a bureaucrat at Cigna. Then came the End of Life Counseling provision in the health care bill which is in fact a ploy to pull the plug on Grandma! Well not really. First of all someone should remind the Congressman that this particular provision has been removed from the bill. Secondly it is not in fact a "Death Panel" but simply requires medicare to pay for VOLUNTARY end of life counseling sessions for seniors and the ailing to plan for end of life medical care. The counseling sessions would cover things such as choosing a hospice and a patients right to CHOOSE or refuse certain types of treatment. It it no way enforces euthanasia and to suggest so is a total misrepresentation of the facts. But all this is besides the point point because it's not in the bill anymore! What's sad is that the bill is probably worse for seniors now but what's even more sad is that the people of the 11th district of Georgia are stupid enough to believe this crap coming from a walking Ken doll like Gingrey! </p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span> Gingrey rounded out the night with some general Obama bashing and lashed out at the rest of the Democrats for being more focused on suing the CIA than working to refrom health care, or something to that effect. My mind gets a little fuzzy here; for at this point in the evening the Fear and stupidity in the air was formidable and I started to realize my God these people are right! The Democrats really are bunch of fag loving, God hating, pinko commies who want to kill my Granny with socialized medicine! Well to hell with that! I stood up from my chair and yelled at the top of my lungs, "Phil please save us from these Satan worshiping baby killers!" The crowd roared with applause and before I knew it they had hoisted me off my feet and were carrying me out of the civic center. I felt like Julius Caesar returning victoriously to Rome. </p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span> When I came to the next morning my lady friend informed that something had come over me at the town hall meeting. Apparently during the Q & A session I began ranting and raving like a lunatic, even speaking in tongues at one point. The police had to remove me by force! I told her no, she must be mistaken. I had seen the light. I finally realized what Obama was up to. "What's that?" she asked.</p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span> "Well it's quite simple actually. The Democrats have an evil plan to destroy the country with socialized medicine. That want to kill my Granny!" </p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span> "Chris both your Grandparents are dead," she said.</p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span> "They have death panels!" I pleaded. </p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span> "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."</p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span> "Now that you mention it, it does seem kind of stupid."</p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span> Sweet Jesus I hadn't seen the light at all! I was simply drunk off all the Fear and stupidity in the air that night. Ah but it felt so good to just give in. To throw out things like logic and reason and just totally embrace, well, ignorance. I guess Orwell was right, it really is bliss. </p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span></p><p style="MIN-HEIGHT: 18px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 15px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span></p>Chris McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17072457442876887833noreply@blogger.com0