Fever Dreaming

I spend a lot of days wondering why so few people in this country pay any attention what is happening outside their homes. And I spend few days wondering if it's better to be ignorant and live in the world that is only in my mind. Some of you know how riled I am about our current politicial system. I have found the past year to be the most petty in politics that I have ever payed attention to. Most days I feel ok. Everything is going to be ok. Tonight I feel scared. Scared that I won't get out of this rural town. Scared that I won't get the teaching job I want. Scared that I won't get my rights. Two months ago I was feeling hopeful and optimistic about the future. Everything was going to be ok. But once the Republicans took over the house, it's a completely different story. We're all trying to figure out how to dig ourselves out of this hole.

I suppose what gripes me the most currently in our political system is how finicky the House Republicans are being. The Health Care repeal vote was completely divided; all those for the repeal were Republican, and all those against, were Democrat. I don't understand what John Boehner is trying to prove. I believe what is going on in our media and government is toxic. House Republicans are saying that Obama's Health Care plan is "job-killing." Oh, I'm sorry. It's now "job-crushing." Killing was suggested to be taken out of John Boehner's language after the Tuscon shooting. However, it's still in the bill's name. But here's the thing. On FOX News, Republicans and FOX pundits were more concerned about the title than they were about the fact that it DOESN'T kill jobs. Why is that? Because FOX News isn't about the truth. It's about brainwashing the country into turning on each other.

A thing I don't understand about John Boehner is how he can cry at the thought of an elderly veteran sitting on his or her front porch on a warm summer evening but not at the idea of someone not having health care. He needs to have his reality checked. John Boehner, stop being an asshole and constantly siding with your Republican pals in the House. And don't you dare shut down the government just because you can't get the Health Care repeal through (because it doesn't kill jobs and some people are getting health care for the first time in their lives!). I think government officials forget who exactly they are working for and who they are affecting. At the end of their days, they get to drive in their fancy $70 grand car to their fancy home with hardwood floors to be greated with a hot meal and a warm bed to sleep in. I dare a government official to walk in the shoes of a homeless person or a mother of three who just lost her job and who is in the process of being evicted from her home, because these are the people they are working for.

Taxes are rising. Prices are rising. Unemployment is rising. He's something that's going to startle you and piss you off at the same time to show just how stupid people are and why this was ever done in the first place and why a repeal didn't take place sooner.

In light of the recent "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal…
The Government Accountability Office looked at the cases of 3,664 active duty personel forced to leave the service between 2004 to 2009 because they were gay. It came up to that it would cost $52,800 to take each person out of the military and to replace and train a new person. The study also said that 40% of those removed from the military had critical occupation or language skills. It would cost $193,000,000 to implement DADT over six years. Now, some people are complaining that it was  a waste of money to do the study. But I say that study is a good slap in the face to those who opposed the repeal. I'm thankful that DADT has been repealed and a little over a year from now, more people in this world will be able to breathe a little easier.

Speaking of the LGBTQI community…

You now damn well people don't like gays because "it says so in the Bible." You know what, the Bible says a lot of things. So does an encyclopedia and a Cosmopolitan magazine. Here's the deal. Let's take the Bible seriously, not literally, ok? For those who are Christians, they are supposed to be following the New Testament anyway. Why is it that folks pick and choose what they want to believe from the Bible? Sure, there are a lot of good stories and life lessons in there. But if we're going to take the Bible literally like so many people choose to do, then let's take back women's rights while we're at it. Let's not allow interracial marriage. Let's believe in slavery again. Let's not allow women to go to church while they are on their period. If you get mildew on your clothes, by golly, you better show it to a priest to examine it. Now to be even more of a prick than I already am acting, Levitcus 18:22 says, "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." Do realize that it doesn't necessarily say sexual relations like all of the previous verses state. For example, Leviticus 18:8, "Do not have sexual relations with your father's wife; that would dishonor your father." Verses 1-21 all have "sexual relations" in them. Here is something WE ALL DO. Leviticus 19:19 "Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material." And if you like your meat raw, well, you're out of luck. Leviticus 19:26 "Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it." In Deuteronomy, for all of us pork eaters, we're screwed. And hey, you could have TWO wives. If you have a rebellious son, you can get him stoned to death. If a girl lies about her virginity, you can stone her to death. If your wife cheated on you, you can kill her AND the person she slept with.

Now, we all know killing is bad. Even if you were caught in the previous situation I mentioned, yeah, you may feel like breaking some knees. But you don't. You try to find compassion and forgiveness in your heart because we are, or at least supposed to be, a society built on love and compassion. Wait. These ideas sound familiar… Where do they come from? What? Wait. The New Testament of the Bible? Oh my! By the way, don't think I was pulling those verses from off the top of my head or off the internet. I sat here with a Bible in my lap looking up verses. I believe the country is becoming less religious but rather more spiritual than anything because of this constant bickering about the Bible says this, the Bible says that. Sticking to the discussion at hand, what it all comes down to is being a homosexual isn't bad. It isn't forbidden. People are aware that there are more LGBTQI folks in their community because they look like people. They ARE people. So how dare anyone believe that human rights should be voted on and not given as deserved.

Now here's some food for thought. Gay marriage is beneficial to this country and the economy. Happy gay married folk = lavish weddings and marriage licenses = gay folks so happy they can marry that they have kids or adopt because THEY CAN = happy child raising practices = happy children = successful children = leaders of our future generation that will make the world a better place.
Think about it. If you take a stereotypical gay couple, they're wedding is going to be ridiculously fancy. And trust me, gays know how to party. The wedding AND the reception will be lavish. This will provide money towards musicians, the food industry, retail, you name it! Plus any person that gets married needs to pay for the license and if he or she wants to change his/her last name, well, that's going to cost too. The gays WILL pay for this too because we've waited too long. If the government is going to push civil unions on the gays and expect us to live equally as any other American, then the government should push civil unions on heterosexual couples too. It's only fair. The LGBTQI could easily help the economy. If we had our rights too, you know, not getting fired from our jobs for being gay, being able to adopt, having the same benefits as everyone else, etc., people would have to put their money into lawsuits. The American public would be saving their own money that way.

The list of budget cuts that the House Republicans hope to make has been released, and I honestly want to cry. I'm furious. Absolutely furious. Why am I furious?

They want to make cuts to funding for both education AND the arts.

THE ARTS.

➢ National Endowment for the Arts. $167.5 million annual savings.
➢ National Endowment for the Humanities. $167.5 million annual savings.

The arts is the one thing that makes us human. It separates us from animals. By golly, do NOT let the government touch the arts. If the government wants to make cuts, why don't they cut their wages. And those Bush tax cuts they extended? Yeah, that was a dumb idea. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates even believe they should be paying more in taxes. A lot of our problems could have been solved if the rich would be paying more in taxes instead of foolishly spending their money like many do. The trickle down theory doesn't work! And still doesn't! I've posted the list of cuts on my facebook. If you take a look at it, you'll notice not one cut was made towards the military or any war. I am absolutely furious about all of this.

There was so much more I wanted to write about, but this budget deal has me far too frazzled to finish. I shall finish this another time.

It's time for collective action.

Peace out.