Are we witnessing freedom?

A friend recently posted:

What we are witnessing in the USA is called freedom. Embrace it. Love/Hate. For/Against. Liberal/Conservative. Right/Left.

But is this freedom?  For my part I do not think so.  What we are witnessing is NOT freedom. NOT even close.

What we are witnessing is OLIGARCHY. What we are witnessing is 46% of the electorate so disengaged or fed up that they do not vote. What we are witnessing is governance by the unelected where for the second time in recent years a majority favored the candidate that was NOT elected and we get government by the unelected because of an arcane set of laws that have no place in today's world. What we are witnessing is a political elite that claims a mandate to continue policies that brought us the second greatest economic collapse in American history even though they received support from less than 25% of the governed. What we are witnessing is what happens when the country's Congress has an 11% approval rating. What we are witnessing is what happens when government at the federal and in many cases the state level has failed the governed. What we are witnessing is what happens when people are so fed up, so disillusioned with their government that they resort to protest.

Rioting is not OK. But here's the thine, if you want a free government that works for you and me and the rest of us, you not only have a right to protest; you have an obligation to do so. You have an obligation to involve yourself to oppose the oligarchy that proposes to continue policies that have not worked. You have an obligation to support efforts and candidates that will address the very real problems America faces. 

If you and I fail to do so, if we continue to believe that voting once every two years is enough, then you can be sure that nothing will change.

A few thoughts from a veteran

I am a veteran. You do not owe me anything special for I have enjoyed the many many many benefits of living in America.

I am a veteran. There is sadly nothing special about that for I am one of many many many who are.
It saddens me that this is so.

I am a veteran. If you want to respect our service actually work to build a just and fair America that works for everyone not just the wealthy and powerful for that is why I and many many many like me served.

I am a veteran. If you wish to honor veterans, if you wish to actually thank me for my service try actually believing in and practicing American values. Try caring for the families of those who didn't return. Try mending the wounds of those that returned broken. Try respecting everyone no matter their race, or gender, or national origin, or language, or religion, or political party, or sexual orientation, or any other consideration. If you are religious, try acting like you actually believe that we are all god's children. If you are not, try acting alike you actually believe in a common humanity. Try some simple humanity.

I am a veteran. I am not a pacifist. Even so I dream of a time when there are no more of us for there are no more wars.

If you wish to honor our service, make such service unnecessary.

A rant worth reading

From time to time Facebook rants are actually worth the time to read. Herewith an offering.

------------------------

Kent Hartland

23 hrs · 

o buckle up...I'm about to be politically incorrect.
We don't need to take America back. No one stole it. It's right here...you're sitting in it. Chillax.
Mexico isn't going to pay for the wall and we're not going to deport millions of people and break up families. If you think either one is a good idea, you're not smart and probably not a person I want to hang out with.
We don't live in a democracy. Technically we are a Federal Republic. But in reality we are ruled by an oligarchy. If you don't know what that is, look it up. Reading will do you good. You probably need to do more of it.
FoxNews, CNN, and MSNBC have an agenda and are not "fair and balanced" or in any way unbiased. I'll reiterate...read more. Read newspapers (even online ones). Read lots of opinions and sources and then (stay with me here), THINK! Form your own opinion based on as many facts as your can brain can tolerate.
Speaking of facts...there actually is a difference between facts, opinions, and propaganda. You should learn the difference. (Another opportunity to show off your mad reading skills.)
Science is real. We know things because of science. Don't be afraid of it. You have an iPhone and Facebook because of science. It's your friend.
Global warming or "climate change" as the cool kids call it IS REAL. Anyone who tells you it's not real is not a smart person and probably should not be dressing themselves or caring for children.
Racism exists. And you are probably a little racist and should work on that. Seriously.
American Christians are not under attack. We are not being persecuted. We wield so much power in this country that politicians pretend to be Christian just so we will vote for them. No one is trying to take your bible away from you. The gay people are not destroying our families—we don't need any help from them, thank you. We do a fine job of that by ourselves. So stop saying we are persecuted. You sound stupid.
Poor people need help. If you're not helping them but complaining about how the government helps them with your money you are not a nice person.
Be nice to the people who teach your children. Don't send them nasty emails or yell at them. Their job is 10,000 times harder than your stupid job. You are not a professional educator so just shut your mouth and be thankful someone is willing to teach your offspring.
You don't know what Common Core is. You think you do, but you don't unless you're a teacher. So stop complaining about math problem memes on Facebook. You can't do the math anyway.
ISIS is not an existential threat to the United States. We do not need to rebuild our military. Our military is the strongest, scariest, most badass killing machine the world has ever seen. So stop being afraid and stop letting politicians and pundits scare you.
Guns do in fact kill people. That's what they are designed to do. If you feel you need a gun to protect yourself in America, you are probably living in the wrong neighborhood and should move before you go out and buy a gun. There are like a billion places to live where you won't need a gun, or even need to lock your front door.
If you do own a gun, then make sure you know how to use it really, really, really well. Seriously...get some training because you still don't know how to record stuff with your DVR. Go to the gun range and shoot the thing a lot. Learn how to clean it properly and be able to disassemble it and reassemble it with your eyes closed. It's a freaking gun and it deserves that level of care, proficiency and respect. And for God's sake, keep it locked up and away from your kids.
If you are even a little bit crazy, sad, or pissed off...you shouldn't have a gun. And the Founding Fathers would totally agree with me.
Stop being suspicious of American Muslims. I guarantee the guy sitting next to you in the cubicle at work is probably more of a threat to you than any Muslim. He has to listen to your uninformed ranting day after day and has probably already imagined very colorful and creative ways to end you.
Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and all the rest are ENTERTAINERS! Stop getting your opinions from them. (Here's where that reading thing can really be an advantage.)
Stop sharing Facebook memes that tell me to share or else Jesus won't bless me with a laundry basket full of cash. That's not how prayer works. And I don't want money delivered (even from God) in a laundry basket. Nobody ever washes those things out and they just keep putting nasty dirty clothes in them. Yuck!
We are the United States of America and we can afford to house every homeless veteran, feed every child, and take in every refugee and still have money left over for Starbucks and a bucket of KFC.
Unless you can trace your family line back to someone who made deerskin pants look stylish and could field dress a buffalo, you are a descendent of an immigrant. Please stop saying that immigrants are ruining our country. Such comments are like a giant verbal burrito stuffed with historical ignorance, latent racism, and xenophobia all wrapped in a fascist tortilla.
That's all for now. I feel better.
LaMonte M. Fowler

Dear DNC: Get a grip on reality

“There’s going to be a fight of progressives versus the moderates, which, to be honest, is what got us into this place in the first place,” predicted former senior DNC official Mo Elleithee, now the executive director of the Institute of Politics and Public Service at Georgetown University.

Really? Do you think that just maybe Ms Clinton as a candidate might have something to do with how we got here? Perhaps it might have had something to do with ignoring working middle class voters. Or do you think that continuing the politics of the past in the face of Trump and Sanders might be involved. Really, get a grip on reality.

Trump and Sanders are two sides of a common coin, the rejection of politics that ignores real people and real needs. One tapped anger, the other offered real solutions to real problems. If you continue to insist that it's about progressives v. moderates v. conservatives you remain mired in a system that hasn't worked and that lead to a President-Elect Trump. 

Perhaps it's time to get over your labels and try actually offering real solutions to real problems. After all the anger vote went to the other guy. Just a thought.

Health savings accounts - a good idea that doesn't fix the problem.

I just listened to a conversation about repealing Obamacare and replacing it with something better. One suggestion was health savings accounts as though somehow having a saving account would actually do something about the cost of health care. Of course it will not have ANY EFFECT on medical cost. NONE.

Health care savings accounts have been around for some time as a way of allowing people who are able to save to set aside money in a tax advantaged account to deal with uninsured health care cost. If you have money you can save and are disciplined at saving such accounts allow you to reduce your health care cost by your marginal tax rate at the time the money is deposited and at the time it is used for a medical expense. That's all they do. Period.

As it happens, we have a health savings account and my wife needs some dental work done that is not fully insured. Of course we will use the health savings account to help pay for the work. But here's the thing, how we pay for the dental work has no impact whatever on the cost of the work. None whatsoever.  Health savings accounts have absolutely no impact on the cost of medical care.

The skyrocketing cost of health care and insurance is a real problem. Health savings accounts are simply not a solution. Perhaps as a country we might want to consider approaches that actually address the cost of medical care and insurance. Just a thought.

Paul Ryan: Donald Trump 'just earned a mandate' - Really?

It had to happen. Someone was going to declare a 'mandate'. Never mind that Ms Clinton actually won the popular vote. After all we are now officially in Trumplandia and reality or facts just do not matter.

There was a brief period during the last two days when I thought that perhaps there were enough adults in Congress that actually believe in American values that there might be some hope for government. Of course, it was an entirely vain hope not supported by recent history.

Here's a thought, how about during the 2018 elections we think about doing what we failed to do this time and actually elect a Congress that can govern based on some sense of reality and rational thought.

The Unchange Election

We elected Mr Trump. That election is largely viewed as a rejection of the existing political order, as a vote for change.

Personally, I completely agree that it is time for real change in government. But here's the thing,

WE DIDN'T ACTUALLY CHANGE THE PART THAT MATTERED!

We left in place the part of government that is actually responsible for the laws under which government operates. 

Pick an issue. Any issue. Now ask yourself the simple obvious question, "What has CONGRESS done to address that issue?" If your answer is nothing or the wrong thing they next time you get to vote for Congress try voting for someone else to represent you.

Just a thought.

Media Fail

I was listening this mourning to PBS News Hour as it discussed the 2016 election. Part of that discussion addressed media failings. The consensus was that the media didn't do a good job of examining the disaffection that lead to Mr Trump's election. In that regard I offer the following observations.

1. First, it's true. The main stream media did not understand or cover just how disaffected much of the country is with politics. For some time I have believed that Mr Sanders and Mr Trump are two sides of the common disaffection that the majority of citizens feel with government. Mr Trump harvested that disaffection with telling us who to blame. Mr Sanders addressed it with real proposals for what to do. It seems that it is far easier for most of us to decide who to blame than to actually engage real problems with real solutions. While entirely understandable, even predictable, it is a sad commentary of the state of America.
   
2. Second, while true, that failure is entirely irrelevant. The real important failures are entirely elsewhere. The media, political parties, and common thinking continue to promote the absurd notion that the President some how runs the country. That notion is not simply untrue in that it distracts us from the way government really works! Congress, not the President, is responsible for making laws! It's just that simple. If you want good government, if you want a real problem addressed, then it is Congress and law that matters far more than the President. Want to get big money out of politics? That requires Congress to act. Want to do something about skyrocketing medical cost? That requires Congress to act. Want to do something about global warming? It's Congress! Most of us do not understand this simple civics truth. To paraphrase that old saw, IT'S CONGRESS STUPID! The media has failed because it treated an election where all of the House and much of the Senate was up for reelection as though it was a contest between two people representing a red team and a blue team. It simply wasn't! 

One might argue that is is not the media's responsibility to educate us on how government works. While there is certainly some truth in that argument it fails to recognize that in a free society the media is not just responsible for reporting what happens, it is also responsible for helping us understand why it matters.

 So here's a thought; take a minute and read a bit about how Congress actually works. Here are some useful references:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress 
• https://www.votetocracy.com/blog/how-does-congress-work