A Long Overdue Political Rant

Earlier in the week I was greeting with this headline on the NY Times online edition: More Americans Joining Military as Jobs Dwindle. The second paragraph: The last fiscal year was a banner one for the military, with all active-duty and reserve forces meeting or exceeding their recruitment goals for the first time since 2004, the year that violence in Iraq intensified drastically, Pentagon officials said. BushCo almost couldn't have planned it better. Sink the economy into the toilet and we'll get all the volunteers we need for our War on Terror. I can hear them now: "Draft? We don't need no stinkin' draft!" I was probably one of those lone liberals, who thought a draft was a good idea. I get tired of all these (mainly) right-wing goobers exhorting war from the sidelines, and never having to put their own lives on the line. I joined the US Air Force when I was seventeen, and once in the military system I was able to gain a more educated view on the reality of the chain of command, nuclear weapons and so forth. I realized very quickly that most young people join, because their job, or educational prospects at home are slim to none. Most folks re-enlist, because it means healthcare and housing for their family. I have complete sympathy and support for the men and women of the armed services, because I am a veteran. I can also state unequivocally that there are plenty of liberally minded, sane people in the military, and that they are ecstatic that Barack Obama is now their commander in chief. He has already shown more empathy and support for active duty and military personnel than Bush ever did.

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I guess we are in for at least four years of intense whining from the conservative side of the political map now. A conservative friend of mine stated early in the campaign that he hoped the Democrats would win, so that he would have a chance to complain. But it's not like they ever stop complaining, even when they are in power. They complain about affirmative action, access to healthcare for all, liberal media bias (even though most of the media is owned by a mere few corporations), the threat to gun ownership and on and on. We have drug-addled Rush Limbaugh hoping Obama will fail. We have Sean Hannity blaming the recent encounter between a flock of Canadian Geese and a US Airways flight on Sen. Chuck Schumer. And we have Laura Ingraham stating that we are now less safe than we were on January 19th thanks to Barack Obama's executive orders to close down Guantanamo and to cease all torture tactics. I almost feel a little sympathy for these folks . . . almost. Either they are delusional and believe that the show 24 is a documentary; or they are going to fight to their dying breath to maintain their lavish lifestyles that they have acquired by duping the public for so long, using code words like "small business" and "tax cuts." Every time some Republican hack mentions the need to protect small businesses I actually throw up a little into my mouth. You know those burps that remind you how easy it would be to blow lunch spontaneously? The powerful elite of the right wing had their way for the last eight years and look at the position they have left our country in. Now they are trying to rewrite history, claiming that George W. Bush inherited a recession (a lie), and that no one could have foreseen the attacks of 9/11, or the levee breeches in New Orleans, or the recent economic meltdown on Wall Street. They had control of the wheel, but now they want to claim that they were actually in the back seat sleeping while the world went to shit. One recent whack job on Fox actually claimed that Bush inherited the 9/11 attacks! To call them delusional is being kind.
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Today I was prompted to write a letter to the National Right to Life Committee. I caught part of their news conference at the National Press Club yesterday, on the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. More than a few times members of this committee referred to Barack Obama as "pro abortion." I just had write them a letter and call them out for that lie and insult to our 44th president. Barack Obama has specifically stated during his campaign that he would work to reduce the number of abortions and unwanted pregnancies in our country, so calling him "pro abortion" is just more right-wing nuttery. I do not know of any sane person, who is "pro abortion." But I side with those rational people, who believe that a woman has a right to choose what to do with her own body. Hell, even Sarah Palin believes in the right to choose! Remember during the campaign when she proudly exclaimed how her daughter Bristol chose to keep her baby? How do these right-to-lifers expect to ever have a reasonable dialogue about these important issues when they are too willing to hurl insults and lies? How do they expect us to believe that they value life when they drive an SUV into a women's clinic? If they really value life I want to see them protesting the death penalty, and the attacks on innocent children hiding in UN refuges in Gaza. I want to see them vociferously denounce the US attack on Iraq that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. If they really believe that abortion is murder than I would like to see them take their god out of the equation. If you can prove to me that the six week old fetus is a sentient being than I will start to listen to your arguments. Otherwise, you just come off as religious nuts trying to push your antiquated beliefs on a sane and rational public.
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And now a few facts about George W. Bush's legacy: