Here's my issue. Something is wrong with our social situation when figuring out what to rant about first is the hardest decision. When you read the newspapers, you want to take a large potato peeler and jab it through the mind-set of the nation. When you watch the news, you want to take the potato peeler and impale it through your own esophagus. I am just grateful that the media is maintaining its image as Lucifer's bodyguard.
I am the first to admit that tears were shed at the last election, and that I have no qualifications what-so-ever to rant about politics. So what do I have? Aside from citizenship, I have friends and family who will be shipped off to an early death as our country deteriorates into a rotting mass of Republican propaganda. On the up-side, Democrats are doing their best to obediently nod their heads to the right and give a big toothy grin.
Part of my sadness comes from the Vermont election. We are in no way a Republican state, am I wrong here? No, for once, and yet we now have a Republican governor and Lieutenant Governor. The governor isn't as conservative as he could be, at least he doesn't want to change the laws that we already have (i.e. civil unions), but the lieutenant governor? Oy. This is the man who said in a debate at least ten times, "well, I haven't really researched it, but it is an important topic." Waaaaa? You want to know why he won? Name recognition; Dubie. His name is Bryan Dubie, and apparently that was enough to elect the second most powerful man in the state of Vermont. I used to be proud of this state... past tense...
While I'm on the subject of past tense, we must give an ode to our esteemed racist Trent Lott. The part of this situation that confuses me most, is that people suddenly realized that he was a racist. Apparently the fact that he continually voted against civil rights laws and has a history of supporting segregation didn't clue the masses in. That said, I have to feel bad for the guy. I mean, all he wanted to do was suck up to a nice, racist 100 year-old man, and he did so with such ease! All pity aside, ya gotta love how Bush played politics. Notice that he didn't even offer an apology until the public demanded it, didn't have any feelings until the press took the story away, and even then the news was on sixth page of the Washington Post. Whoohoo. Do you think that situation will hurt the Republican party? They are inwinciiible. (James Bond reference...)
Although Trent Lott was a good read, I think that Bush's flagrant disregard for human life is the one that really takes my breath away. In Libby, Montana, a mine infected with the extremely lethal asbestos called tremolite killed or sickened thousands of miners and their families. The icing on the cake is that the ore from the mine was shipped into millions of homes, schools, and businesses across the U.S. and the world ending up in the insulation called Zonolite. The EPA and other organizations wanted to file an emergency health risk, but, alas, the Bush administration put a stop to it. If the declaration had gone through, the residents of Libby would get full healthy coverage and payment to get the insulation out of their house. Fearing that the other million victims would want money, too, the administration (who always has the best interest of the people at the forefront of their thoughts) put a stop to the health risk notification. Don't worry, though. The EPA has taken control of the situation. If you ever happen to stumble across the EPAs website and think about what's in your attic, you'll find a warning of Zonolite. Rest in ease, little ones, rest in ease...
Here's more fun facts about America. The Bush administration is working to over-turn Miranda rights. It's times like these, when being called a "Constitution hugger" is considered a bad thing, that I like to think of our nation not as a police state, but as a government friendly state. See, doesn't that sound better?
Let's see, more fun news. Oooh, a few weeks ago our unemployment rate reached 6%! YEA! Now the one thing that we had going for us has been snatched away... aw, that's so sweet... Don't worry, though. It's not Bush's fault. The economy was already turning sour, just because he gave a tax break to the wealthiest 2% of the nation has nothing to do with our economic situation, honest.
Here's the best news. I have made inferences that demean the President, his administration, and members of the Republican party approximately 10 times in this article alone, and it is now legal to take me in for it. Thank you neighborhood watch-man. You keep everyone who believes in Allah and dislikes American policy in check; thank you for reminding me that I can now be held without a lawyer and arrested without probable cause. You are what makes America great.