Crazy People

It’s getting increasingly difficult to tell the crazy people from the normal people in politics lately. And that may be a sign of a tipping point in America.  Perhaps we have gone over the edge and are now beginning our gradual descent into  . . . into what? Third World status?? Are we to join Afghanistan soon as a modern 14^th century society ruled by warlords (aka Arizona-style sheriffs)  and mafia chieftains (aka bankers), overseen by Christian Taliban Sharia law that is administered by Ayatollah Santorum and others of his ilk? You laugh or decry my silliness. But have you listened lately to the crazy people? Rush Limbaugh comes to mind. He is so gross that he appears not to even know that he is being gross. Happily, five of his sponsors have discussed dropping him—but that means that he had five American companies who had been willing to support him publically??? Wow, that’s an indicator of just how thoughtless American companies are these days, and how lacking in standards of decency they are. Imagine that—five American companies were willing to align themselves with that sleazebag Rush Limbaugh.

This gong show that goes by the name of the republican nominating process has become a national disgrace/comedy show—take your pick. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are the only ones having fun as a result.  Has this kind of absurd parade ever happened before? What kind of a nation, not to mention a political party imagines that sick people like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are plausible candidates to lead this nation? And lest we forget about Mr. Nowhere Man, the Mittster, he seems to believe in anything, or nothing—take your pick. Oh, well, we know he cares about money, and lots of it.

And how they do go on about taxes, as though taxes were some mysterious punishment that Democrats conceived to torment rich republicans . . . and don’t forget that our candidates care exclusively about rich republicans. What are taxes, anyway? As I see it, taxes are the exact public sector analog to commercial prices that we pay for goods and services. If we hire a taxi, the cabby levies a tax at the end of the ride, and we pay it. But he calls it a “fare”. If we buy an airline ticket, they charge us a specific tax, and they call it a fare.  If I go into a grocer, or attend a Farmers Market and I buy a pound of tomatoes, or a head of lettuce, do they just hand it to me and smile? Well, no, they tax me, oh excuse me, they charge me a fee/price/ cost of goods sold. Can we obtain any goods or services anywhere in America without paying a tax/fee/price??? So, when we send our kids off to school to get educated, why would we balk at paying a school tax/fee/price?? And when we call for a fireman or a policeman to help save us from something mean and nasty, do we rebel at the fact that we have paid a tax/price/fee up front??  

So perhaps we should change the name and stop calling public sector fees taxes. Eliminate the word taxes and maybe republicans will be happier.  Oh, I forgot, republicans will never be happy until they manage to oust the intelligent black man from the White House.  Yes, they want instead a delusional (white) sociopath as leader of the free world, or maybe a 14^th century (white) theocrat. Yeah, that’s the ticket. A crazy man in the White House.