The Game Is Rigged

The game is rigged.

The game has always been rigged.

What has changed is that the occasional bone is no longer thrown to the masses.

Through the years, palliatives such as trust busting, labor laws, a minimum wage, public education, Social Security,  the GI Bill, civil and voting rights, food stamps, welfare and Medicare were offered to an increasingly restless public. People who really believed in the unfulfilled, often mythical, promises of  "all men are created equal" and "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

Not any more. The very very rich, whether human, or super-human (i.e. Corporations) have decided that it's counter productive to their profits to do anything for the rest of us.

And their almost complete control of the media has eliminated the possibility of a true reformer, like Teddy Roosevelt or FDR, changing the rules of the game. Even a centrist like Barack Obama is way too progressive for our oligarchical overlords.

No, better to elect Ayn Rand spouting, trickle down fools, who campaign on the lie that "government is the problem" and then do their level best to make sure that government does not work--except to ensure that the public trough is kept open for only a very select few.

Being Alive Is A Pre-Existing Condition

"How differently I might behave if immortality were an option." (Tom Stoppard)

Yes. Well...we all misbehave along the way.

Perhaps it's because I am of a certain age, but almost all of my friends and close associates have something wrong with them.

Maybe they smoke or smoked, maybe they did drugs or drank to excess, maybe they played basketball or tennis on concrete courts for too many years, maybe they hurt their backs years ago, maybe all the women in their families tend to get cancer...Or maybe it's just that time has taken its toll.

And before the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare if you prefer, these "somethings", however major or minor they may be, would be cause for insurers to deny them coverage.

So the fact that ACA is imperfect, and that its roll out has been deeply flawed*, while important, are not nearly as important as the fact that it will ultimately offer relief to the vast majority of Americans.

And never forget this important fact: insurance companies spend a great deal of time, effort, and money to fuck us over. Denying as many claims as possible is a key part of their business strategy. Make sure you weigh that against the temporary inconvenience of a faulty website.

It is true that if you live long enough something will eventually kill you, but you shouldn't have to die for lack of care, or go broke along the way because of hospital bills. I know this stands counter to the Great American God of Profit Before All, but still...

*[ Maybe the roll out would have been smoother if the Congress had funded the website with the full amount of money recommended by the Congressional Budget Office and not just 1/6 of the amount. Maybe. And maybe if the Republicans hadn't spent 3 years fighting against its implementation tooth and nail. Maybe.]

Clown Time Is Not Over

I bet you're just as excited about 2016 as I am!

Chris Christie, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz! Wow!

I mean, really, Ted fucking Cruz?! Plus his wingnut daddy? Double Wow!

If we're lucky, maybe even Jeb "I'm The Smart One--No Really" Bush will crawl out of whatever Saudi's pocket he's in and throw his keffiyeh into the ring.

Just between you and me, despite the fawning press he receives, Chris Christie is still just a morbidly obese, loud mouthed bully. And the only explanation I've heard that makes any sense regarding his re-election is that blue state New Jersey has such a huge inferiority complex towards New York, that they are willing to forgive Christie's anti-union anti-teacher Republican crap because they desperately want someone who won't be pushed around by the Empire State. And it would take a bulldozer to push Chris Christie. You'd be better off trying to roll him.

The world has passed these people by, and they don't even know it.

Doesn't matter though, because crazy is the gift that keeps on giving. So we're going to get 3 years of "insider" speculation. And 3 years of Republicans attacking each other for not being "Republican" enough. And 3 years of Tea Party lunacy. Priceless.

Pass the popcorn.

I Demand Satisfaction!

So Rand Paul, R-Wikepedia, pines for the good ol' days of Dixie, when a slight could be settled by a duel...

Fine.

Of course, one of those who Paul The Lesser feels most slighted by is, gasp, a woman! One Rachel Maddow by name.

Young Rand's honor has been thrown into question, and since he couldn't possibly best Ms Maddow in any intellectual contest, he yearns for the only other way he can think of, however illegal and archaic it may be, to satisfy his bruised ego.

Now, I'm not up on the rules of chivalry, southern or otherwise, (though I did recently see 12 Years A Slave, an excellent primer on the mentality of southern white males, past and present), but I don't think a gentleman would challenge a lady to a duel under any circumstances.

In fact, the sort of man who would challenge a woman to a duel isn't really much of a man at all.

Kill The Weak, Shoot The Wounded, Starve The Hungry

I'm not really up on the Bible, so someone will have to tell me in which book baby Jesus said, "fuck the poor and the hungry and the weak and the sick.  No, I mean it, verily FUCK 'em!"

'Cause it has to be in there someplace.

I mean, the Republicans are all good Christians--just ask them--and that's their policy. So baby J must have said it.

And apparently, when He comes back (hahaha), if we haven't made the poor and hungry and weak and sick suffer enough, well then there's going to be Hell to pay! Amen.

On a side note, does it surprise anyone that Ted Cruz's dad is an asshole? What else could he be?