That’s what republican legislatures have for America. No, I’m not being hyperbolic.
For two election cycles now, the American people have overwhelmingly voted democrats to represent them. All across the country, Americans have voted for democratic congressmen and democratic senators. We all collectively, by a large majority, voted for a democratic president. The will of the people has been abundantly clear here. And yet, we have republican legislatures filibustering EVERY major piece of legislation since President Obama was sworn in. We voted for a platform but republicans are more interested in their own agenda than they are with the will of the people. They’re blocking financial reform as I type this, despite the fact that 65% of Americans are in favor of it.
They don’t give a shit what democrats OR republicans want. This should be a major concern for all Americans, regardless of your party affiliation. And republicans that support these tactics are (I’m being kind here) ASSHATS! I understand the urge to support any efforts to block something that you don’t support, I really do. But condoning and supporting these tactics shows a lack of big picture thinking. You should care more about your country than you do your party. These tactics literally discount the will of the people and threaten to destroy the system of governance that the founders created. Anybody that supports this clearly hasn’t considered the fact that these tactics will eventually be used to eviscerate a platform that you voted for.
But the contempt that I refer to isn’t just about preserving power for republicans. They have actual contempt for Americans.
Last week, South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer said that unemployment is caused by “flat out lazy” American workers. FYI – South Carolina has a 12% unemployment rate. This wasn’t the first time he made this sort of comment. Back in January he said this;
My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that.”
Charming, right? Before you chalk that up to one stray asshole, let me continue.
Back in March, the other douchebag senator from Arizona, Jon Kyl made this statement;
“Unemployment insurance doesn’t create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work, because people are being paid even though they’re not working.”
As a quick aside, I want to let Arizona know about a law that you may or may not know about. This is an old Arizona state law that has been on the books for a very long time. If you live in Arizona, you’re only allowed to own two dildos. I’m not kidding! So here’s a thought; you may not want to squander your allotment on your two senators!
Need more? Check out Tom DeLay in an interview with Candy Crowly last month:
I can give you several more examples of these opinions from republicans, but you get the point. These aren’t isolated opinions, they’re an example of the ideology that republicans have about Americans.
They have contempt for you if you have the temerity to be unemployed because the ponzi schemes that their biggest contributors in the financial were running collapsed, therefore robbing you of your job. That’s right, to republicans, you’re the asshole here. And as long as you’re getting a few hundred dollars a week in unemployment benefits from the federal government, you won’t be seeking the six figure job that you just lost because you’re fundamentally lazy.
Trust me when I tell you that I would find this unacceptable if it came from democrats. This is not a partisan thing for me, and it shouldn’t be for you. This should be about preserving a system that made America great. Allowing a party that was elected into a minority position by the American people to hijack the system isn’t going to turn out well for democrats or republicans. Allowing the Bush administration to wiretap phone calls and monitor all electronic communication in America completely unchecked, didn’t turn out well for us since we have no evidence that the Obama administration has shut that program down. Why would a party willingly give up power that another party obtained? I don’t trust Obama with my privacy any more than I trusted Bush. And I don’t trust democrats not to use these tactics when they’re the minority.
This is unacceptable and republicans and democrats have to come together to let our representatives know that we won’t stand for this.
How can this possibly be something that we don’t all agree on?
