During my usual ranting & raving over our rediculous political climate, & witnessing the demise of our Republic as we knew it, & having to take too many anti-depression & anxiety pills, I suddenly came to a logical conclusion.
It is all a cruel joke on us. The thing to do is to grin & bear it. I have no more political heros, except Dennis Kucinich & Bernie Sanders, who are voices crying in the wilderness.
The last remaining vestiges of moderation in the GOP, Rep. Steven Latourette (R-OH) & Sen. Olympia Snowe, (R-ME) are leaving the Congress as they no longer can stand a gridlocked do-nothing Congress, even though both of them would be handily re-elected.
I am going to fall back on humor & satire as a means of survival. I no longer have Molly Ivins, George Carlin & Gore Videal to count on as my heros, as they are departed, but I can still rely on their recorded brilliance. I still have Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, & Andy Borowitz to rely on. These are my heros, & I will continue to enjoy them until the guys in white coats come to take me away. (I think that they work for DHS now.)
Come join me in LA-LA Land. Smile. Things could be worse.
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Comments: 22
A right wing friend tried to give me an Obama bobble-head doll for my car yesterday.
I politely declined, saying that I wasn't all that enthusiastic about Obama, but was horrified by the alternative. He asked me who I would like to see running for President instead, and I said Bernie Sanders. Got a totally blank look. He had never heard of him.
Today, I had lunch with a bunch of old friends, mostly former work colleagues. I was wearing my favorite T-shirt which says...upside down..."Overturn Citizens United."
NOBODY else at the table knew what it meant! I had to explain it. And then a few lights went on...they knew about the SCOTUS decision...vaguely...but the name meant nothing to them. These are intelligent people!
That depressed me. How can people be that politically unaware?
If there is a god, she is a practical joker.
Jim, there is also Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, and both of the Washington State Senators. Actually, there are several others, but I can't think of their names right now -- of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most. LOL
So I have to note that with your list, you've set the bar so low that anyone can reach over & steal the booze.
And with 1 president + 535 congress critters reaching over, the saloon is almost dry.
Too many people in this country are like that. As Jim says, they apparently do not realize that election outcomes can affect their life profoundly.
I have worked with most of them, and they are very bright people. But...engineer-types are notoriously "channel-minded." Just ask my wife.
When I was younger, and busy in my career, I was pretty much oblivious to politics.
Doing my job and parenting a family took all of my energy and attention.
But when I retired (took me three tries) I got interested in other things...travel, photography, the arts, writing (of course)...and politics. That's why I am here on Gather. I know quite a few people who never made that transition.
Unfortunately, such people are often swayed by simplistic TV ads that are designed to awaken their fears and hostilities. Without really understanding issues, they vote, often against their own interests.
As Thomas Jefferson said:
""If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."