We had been warned beforehand. Representative Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota had hit the button on the siren and called the Tea Party Folks to descend upon Capitol Hill to confront her fellow Congressmen and women. They were to declare that they didn’t want their health care taken away. They didn’t want Nancy Pelosi and Co. to spend all of their hard earned taxes. They didn’t want any part of Socialism! Come they did, about 4,000 in number. Some were arrested but most were content to work themselves in a lather on the steps of the Capitol building, spurned on by Bachmann, Boehner, Cantor, Foxx, and a few other fools responsible for the spread of the blatant misinformation about health care reform.
They came with offensive signs, they screamed, and they yelled. They had John Voight drive another spike into their fear filled hearts (Angie, come get your Daddy, please). They were led in a bungled recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. They were given a mucked up civics lesson by John Boehner. One of these days he’ll actually read something, maybe like the Constitution, or the Republican health care bill. They rallied as if they were part of some kind of new revolution. A Republican red, 99% white, and blue collar revolution.
Well, wave a flag and shed a tear folks. As for me, I’m completely nonplussed at the situational patriotism that was displayed. Had it been the other side protesting, they would have been called traitors or even worse. Only middle American, Obama hating, native-born people can love this country. Yeah, I get it. Now get on your buses paid for by Insurance lobbyist funded Astroturf organizations and go on home. We’ve been through this righteous anger all summer. The shit is tired.
We were warned but we weren’t ready for a horrific display of real anger that was shown today. It didn’t happen in the rotunda in Washington, but on an army base in Texas. Shortly after 1:00, an Army major and two or possibly three accomplices shot and killed 12 people and wounded 30 more. While the bobbleheads on The Right were dealing in manufactured fear on the Hill, the residents of Ft. Hood were facing the real thing. Fellow soldiers who stood alongside them and took the oath to protect the country from enemies, turned their guns on them and cut them down ruthlessly. Details are sketchy right now. A name and picture was released and stories are floating out that one of the men was to be deployed to Iraq at the end of this month. Surely within in the next few days a clearer picture will be drawn of the men and the circumstances that caused so much terror and death. But like I said, we were warned. Our military men and women have been stretched to the breaking point with the weight of two wars and a lack of mental health services available. Soldiers who have seen the worst acts of human nature imaginable abroad are being sent on tour after tour with no time to decompress or heal. Suicide rates were skyrocketing. The divorce rate of military service people have shot through the roof. The break was coming. We were warned.
So let’s all direct our prayers to the victims and their friends and family at Ft. Hood. Let’s give our sympathy and attention to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice; not to those with an entitled sense of anger and only want to further spread hate.
Recent Comments