From film's celluloid closet, the often spoofed scene where windows are thrown open and common folk scream, "I'm mad as he'll and I'm not gonna take it anymore," fits an America awash in greed, cynicism and selfishness. A nation founded on puritanical ideals has managed to fuel hate by hijacking Christian values in order to ensure a house divided. It is with relished glee that partisans vie to say hateful things about our democracy, all the while clamoring for TV and radio jock time to spew venom disguised as patriotism. Even Obama appointees like former Republican Senator Alan Simpson, can't help but use his "respected" voice to undermine confidence in our nation.
Paul Krugman writes in his New York Times column, "So here’s what the very serious Mr. Simpson said on Friday: ‘I can’t wait for the blood bath in April. ... When debt limit time comes, they’re going to look around and say, ‘What in the hell do we do now? We’ve got guys who will not approve the debt limit extension unless we give ’em a piece of meat, real meat,’ meaning spending cuts. ‘And boy, the blood bath will be extraordinary,’ he continued. Think of Mr. Simpson’s blood lust as one more piece of evidence that our nation is in much worse shape, much closer to a political breakdown, than most people realize."
The recent shellacking of Democrats said more about political arrogance than anything in our history. Minnesota Congressional fixture for decades, James Oberstar, who had his House keys taken away, said, "I guess we just weren't listening enough." Well, fiddle de dee fiddle de dumb; Rome burns while you play that same old tired love song. And as a going away token, those left standing in your party decide to gift the nation by reelecting former Speaker Pelosi to another term to all but prove that cronies in the party of asses need a box of Q-tips.
Republicans are clueless and snug, lining up with their plastic talking points like some army preparing to attack their fellow citizens. If the Democrats are a party of unabated cronyism, then the Republicans are the standard-bearers of a hateful ideology and dialogue. Look throughout history, people, and you will find that fundamentalism is a strangling force whether used for personal power or to divide and conquer. Both political parties denounce it as radical, subversive, destructive on the international scene, but revel in its adherence for their own sordid purposes and use against their fellow Americans.
America's flirtation with being independent is an unwavering patriot instinct, not a move to hysteria by a gang of Fourth of July masqueraders. People are registering independent for two reasons - Republicans and Democrats. They are failing, strangling our country for their personal and political gain while tearing our country asunder. They are using fear as a tactic. Sound familiar? They are creating mass anxiety? Who fits that bill? And both parties are spending us into oblivion whether justified on a war(s) or saving the scalp of big, powerful interests.
Politics should not be a blood sport. It is not the NFL. It is about our nation, born of a view that all are created equal and have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Quit killing the American dream. Stop taking our freedoms away from us, because we, not you, are paying the price for your infidelity and we're boiling mad.
