political argh

If you weren’t stupid I wouldn’t be writing this

Posted on by imnotme

I am sad and frustrated today and it’s probably your fault. You see, I have been paying attention to U.S. politics(I’m a U.S. citizen, what a novel idea!) as faithfully as I can since I turned 18. When I started out I was a moron who listened to my community and the media, I was a bible belter, and like all bible belters thought I had to vote Republican since they hold themselves up as the guardians of 1950’s morality(which turns out to be a really shitty morality, but I was young and programmed, please forgive me). BE79D0AC-8EA6-42E9-8CE7-AD69A35B7B6C_w640_r1_s

Eventually I came to reject the glaring hypocrisies that saturated the ChristiansGOP relationship, as anyone with a mind that functions could see that the policies of the GOP are antithetical to the teachings of christ, and beyond that I always believed education to be very important, and the GOP, for some unexplained reason, was and is fighting to diminish education and institute a warped theocratic brainwashing system in place of education.

I am not going to link to supporting articles on the points I am making in this piece because the internet works just as well for you as it does for me and NOBODY ACTUALLY CLICKS THROUGH TO READ THEM ANYWAY. 

Now, the saddening, frustrating realization of the last two elections cycles that I have been trying not to internalize for fear of imploding, is that the moron brigade in America is not made of a few choice idiots. It seems, so very fucking sadly, to include nearly all of my friends and family.

Try telling someone about Bernie Sanders and you will see just what I mean. People will spend more time attempting NOT to look into him than they will looking into all other candidates combined. They come up with these lame-ass media parroted bullshit excuses to NOT learn about him. I told my mom she should consider Bernie, her response was “What party is he running for?” THAT’S your first question? And that’s maybe one of the least ass-hatted responses. The better ones are along the lines of “Psshh, that lunatic socialist”, or “He’s just another politician”.

Rather than punch myself or anyone else in the taint for the flagrant stupidity blockading rational thought in the U.S., I have decided to attempt a rhetorical victory over those who pretend they don’t have the time to form an educated opinion(I’ve seen how you spend your leisure time, and it rhymes with disgusting state of unthinking obesity) by NOT murdering people, which would be way more efficient and satisfying, and instead calmly laying out the platform of Bernie Sanders in layman’s terms outside of the media spinproganda.

Bernie’s platform will help all citizens in the following ways:

  • Overturning Citizens United will help alleviate the strangle hold that multinational corporations have on the U.S. congress. If you have been paying attention(and I know you haven’t because politics is a clown show and I don’t blame you, also you’re a moron), then you know that congress is bought and works against the people, not for them. Bernie hates this as much as we do.
  • Taxing the wealthy is a tested, proven way to expand needed social programs that help keep the poor empowered and the middle class “mobile”. As it stands right now, the GOP and the bought congress would like to see us all dripping blood from our chins from fighting over wage-slave, menial labor jobs and essentially living for the next wasteful chinese made “thing” to buy so that we can all take pictures of it and post it to instagram to let our friends know we have one too.
  • Bernie wants to raise the federal minimum wage and begin building a modern infrastructure in the U.S. I seem to remember a few million idiots screaming about jobs for some time. He’s proposing jobs… that pay… a livable wage… and simultaneously fixes roads, bridges, expands rail and improves safety, congestion and even helps to protect the environment(you better believe that much of this infrastructure investment will be “green”).
  • SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE IMPROVES HEALTHCARE FOR ALL AND COSTS LESS. This is one of the most infuriating misunderstandings that Americans have. Insurance is a MIDDLE ENTITY, it stands BETWEEN you and the doctor, and profits for… NOTHING! Bernie wants us to all agree to pay for healthcare together, to make it a human right, and in the process the cost of healthcare per capita will drop significantly. Anyone who does not believe that is FUCKING STUPID and could spend 5 seconds on the same internet that I found this information on.
  • Bernie wants college education available to all for free. This creates an educated work force and translates into a healthier economy. If that confuses you, then the point has just proven itself. Education is broken, and it CAN be fixed(From his own mouth: “In a highly competitive global economy, we need the best educated workforce we can create. It is insane and counterproductive to the best interests of our country, that hundreds of thousands of bright young people cannot afford to go to college, and that millions of others leave school with a mountain of debt that burdens them for decades. That must end. That is why, as president, I will fight to make tuition in public colleges and universities free, as well as substantially lower interest rates on student loans.”)

These are really just the tip of the iceBern. Go watch his interview with Katie Couric. Watch him speak to Iowans and Minnesotans. Look at his voting record and political career. Make yourself less of a bumbling consumer bot and more of an American.

This particular video is worth watching in full:

Speaking of memes and why they’re gross

Posted on by imnotme

bushmemeI came across this meme today on that vapid “social networking” site we all use and thought, “My golly! What a fine example of a shitty and misleading meme that only serves to further the political divide between our citizens!”. Problem is, they are everywhere and within the echo chamber that is online ideology(let’s be honest, we all only pay attention to and affirm ideas that neatly align with our fragile world views), they are seldom questioned. Every side of every argument has millions of convenient little memes to throw around that seem to neatly summarize what people who already agree with it ought to think, or be able to throw out in a nonsense argument at a party. I fucking hate this shit, even when it’s about people who I do or do not loathe. For example, W. Definitely in the loathed category, but even republicans started to regret his presidency, much like democrats are underwhelmed with Obama. Well, to be fair, liberals are underwhelmed by(or flatly peeved with) Obama while democrats are still trying to hail him as a hero relative to W.

But take another look at the above meme and come back.

Ok, so let’s all be honest for a sec. Firstly, the Obama administration proved to be more of the same, and I would not classify his stint in the office as a liberal era with the exception of the repeal of DADT, which was really not that big of an issue for the country, and W. can’t be personally blamed for everything on that list. It’s important that we all recognize the masters behind our government instead of always hanging the figurehead as some sort of immortal power wielding god. Not to say I didn’t loathe W., but Obama(like Clinton) is leaving a Wall Street legacy rather than a liberal populist one like he promised, and all because he refused to use the bully pulpit to out the corruption that plagues our high offices. Which begs the question, did he even want to, or were his speeches just “nice sounding” with no practical intention backing them?

Obamacare, as it’s called, was Mitt Romney’s brainchild, and it’s not a viable healthcare solution for the richest nation on the planet, it’s just an expanded insurance market. The coverage that low-income families and students can get is not good coverage, it’s just marginally affordable. Banning the pre-existing conditions denial protocol insurers used to avoid payouts is good, but the market has found all sorts of ways around it, such as liquidating one firm to create another, leaving millions of previously insured out in the cold and forced to find less affordable coverage with the new firms put in their place or finding worse plans because it’s all they can now afford.

It was nice to have a president that can talk in public without embarrassing everyone, but it’s not like the U.S. has come even close to being on par with other developed countries on most important social concerns like education, infrastructure, healthcare, representation and social safety nets. I call it mostly a failed or purely deceitful administration and hope beyond hope that Bernie Sanders can actually get elected this next go ’round, because I GUARANTEE that he will actually use the bully pulpit to start bringing common sense policy to the forefront of U.S. politics, particularly in the areas of education and healthcare.

Now as far as U.S. foreign policy… that’s anyone’s guess. For all we know the U.S. is interminably locked into the middle east struggle with China and Russia at the other end waiting for us to exhaust our efforts. I guess what it comes down to is I hate memes and the oversimplifications they represent, and the sentiment in the above meme is clearly a centrist democrat Clinton-worshipping liberal, not the “let’s actually make this country better for all, like for real, like now” liberal sentiment that we so very desperately need.

Memes are cheap, and gross, and we should stop using them in our political discourse, because they only reinforce the notion that the U.S. is divided, when in fact it is not. The over funded manure factory that is the U.S. election cycle likes it when we talk to each other this way, because they get off on how easily distracted we are from the real issues affecting us. It keeps us busy attacking each other so that they can have their way, and that’s our collective gross to get off.