Migrating Headache

It's funny how online news pieces often have a section after where people can leave comments. This is so you can read about how dumb people are. Most of the comments are frightening. Originally, our founder fathers only allowed rich, educated, land owners to vote. I don't think we should return to that, but it does make you wonder if they were on to something.

I find it amusing how creative people try and get with their name calling in these comments. Names like "Libtards," "Repubithugs"--that one's kind of a stretch, "Democraps / dummycrats," and of course the "Tea Baggers." Although people throw around that last one so often, I don't think most people realize it's an offensive term.

Being a Republican living in California, I'm used to the dumbest people on the planet trying to pick political fights with me. I sometimes wonder if most people even understand the most basic principles of politics in this country. Case in point, the stupid "Oh yeah, well the Republicans ruined the economy!" argument. I'm a Republican. Did I ruin the economy? Political parties are not sports teams. The only thing that makes someone a Republican is because they say they are. Yeah, Bush wasn't exactly the greatest political mind of our times, and if I were to name Republicans I think personify the party, he wouldn't be on my list. But on the same token, Ted Kennedy murdered a woman. What if I said, "You can't trust Liberals. They kill people." Does that make any sense? That's just as stupid of an argument. Btw, the Republicans are not "the ones" that ruined the economy, though many of them had a hand in it(and have since been voted out).

The individual does not define the political outlook they claim to ascribe to. If George Bush wasted money, it's not because he was a Republican. It was because he was a poor leader. If a bunch of Republicans in Kansas vote to ban the teaching of evolution in the classroom, it's not because they're Republicans. It's because they're a bunch of idiots. There is absolutely nothing in the political ideology of Republicanism that dictates any thing that threatens the credibility of a particular religion should be banned. In fact, this position runs contrary to the Republican idea that government should stay out of our lives(including what our schools can teach our kids).

The Tea Party movement seems to be vastly misunderstood by most people--including the media. Tea Partiers are conservatives who are angry at Republicans who've turned their backs on conservative principles. They're also angry at Democrats who've caved to the Liberals in their party and stopped fighting for what they believed to be responsible governance. Of course, there's also people in the Tea Party movement that are just idiots and are along for the ride, but I think they're a small minority.

Obama recently said that the Tea Partiers should thank him. After all, if they care about taxes, he's lowered them for most people. The original Boston Tea Party was a protest on taxation without representation. But the modern day movement has morphed considerably since then into a protest against big government(sort of the opposite cause). Obama isn't stupid. This was a calculated statement--one he knows is highly misleading. Because the Tea Party has no leaders and can't fight back, many Liberals who see them as a threat would like to marginalize them and mischaracterize them into being a bunch of angry white people mad at a non issue. But while Tea Partiers are mad at Republicans and Democrats that haven't been representing their conservative wishes, they're even more mad at government spending. And although taxes haven't changed much, they're going to explode soon. Obama is talking about a national sales tax--something that has decimated the economy in Europe. In Obama's first year, he will have spent more than Bush did in his first term. At this rate, before Obama's first 18 months, he will have outspent Bush's entire 8 years. And don't forget, yeah Bush spent a lot of money fighting this war in Afghanistan. Obama voted to go to war there. This is as much Obama's unfunded war as it is Bush's. Everything Bush did wrong, Obama is doing several times over.

I've seen a few dumb people mention that Obama's health care plan isn't much different from Mit Romney's or Richard Nixon's, therefore, what are the Republicans so mad about? First off, "If Nixon thought it was a good idea," is probably not a very strong argument. After all, Nixon felt it was ok to bomb Cambodia--a country we were not at war with--and lie about to the UN when the Cambodian government complained. Second, bad ideas are bad ideas no matter which party the proposer is from. Not to mention, Federal mandates are contrary to Republican ideology. Having those ideas come from people calling themselves "republicans" doesn't change that. Bad ideas are bad ideas.

This would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Over 40 of the biggest employers in the country have announced to their share holders(as required by law) they might start dropping health insurance for their employees. The bill that was supposed to lower premiums have instead caused them to rise--well duh, force insurance companies to take on high risk patients(pre-existing conditions) and they have to charge more to cover a higher risk of loss. And employers have done the math and determined that it's cheaper to pay the fines than it is to provide insurance. So the bill that was supposed to cover more people, might actually translate into less people covered. Obama's people are now admitting that the bill will not lower the deficit, but will actually increase it. So on all three fronts of controlling government costs, lowering premiums, and insuring more Americans, this bill might just make things worse for all three. The health care bill is Obama's only "accomplishment" so far. In a way I'm happy. 8 years of people bashing me because I voted for Bush, now it's the Democrats' turn. Not so easy, is it?

I guess the other big thing in the news is the immigration thing. When I first heard about Arizona passing a law allowing cops to stop anyone they felt like who looks like they might be an illegal alien, I wasn't happy about it. But then I did some more research on it. Turns out if a police officer stops you without probable cause, it's still illegal under this bill. So as Obama incorrectly said, police can't harass you as you go around with your kids to buy ice cream. The only thing the bill does is make it against the law to be here illegally. Huh? That wasn't already illegal? Apparently not. The law is now that police may not check to see if someone is an illegal alien until after they've committed another crime. Now with this new law, being here illegally is a crime in and of itself, and law enforcement can now deport you based solely on the fact that you're here illegally--something they can't do now. Now, if a cop pulls you over for driving while Mexican, you can still sue the state of Arizona for harassment and violation of your civil rights(racial profiling). This new law doesn't change that. I'm sure cops *are* pulling people due to racial profiling now, just because some cops are racist jerks. This law will not increase or decrease that. But you can bet the publicity will cause cops to be a lot more careful about it once the law goes into effect. It will still probably happen though, and will no doubt make the news when it does.

Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco, has declared(out of ignorance) his city will be boycotting Arizona businesses. So some conservative states / cities have been talking about doing the same to SF. I'm all for civil rights. I think Cesar Chavez was an American hero for standing up for the fair treatment of migrant farm workers. But I'll bet you right now that Mayor Newsom's hasn't even read the bill. I haven't either. And my conclusion about it might be wrong. But then, I'm not a mayor putting my own ego above what's best for the people I represent.

I respect Newsom's fight for gay marriage equality in California. I've long been a supporter of civil rights on all fronts, but either the Liberals making a stink about this are alarmists or they're just trying to score cred with their Liberal voter base. Ignorance or posturing?