Ranting Rex

The surprise horse in this race for me is Herman Cain.  Now at first blush you might think it crazy that a black man is running as a Republican.  Yes, that in itself is rather interesting.  However, we are looking at the first generation of black millionaires in the country, so all things considered, it’s not that much of a shock.  Still, what is most interesting to me about the man is that, while I disagree with his platform, I am pleasantly surprised at his honest, straightforward approach in selling it.  After decades of double-talk, it’s a nice change.

When Herman Cain is asked a question, he provides an answer.  If he doesn’t have all the information, he’s smart enough to not wing it.  This is in sharp contrast to most politicians who know little, and speak for hours on subjects in which they are by no means familiar.  It’s nice to know there is someone out there who is smart enough to know he is not smart enough.

Still, Cain often comes across as a high school student who, while filled with grand theories and ideas, lacks the insight and life experience required to understand their implication.  For example, his 9,9,9 plan is supposed to boost the economy.  Well, it will do that.  It will boost it into the ground.  On spec, I like the plan.  It is simple, addresses much of the tax code problems, and streamlines the tax process to a point where we could eliminate much of the 450 billion dollars we provide to the IRS.  However, after mild scrutiny it is pretty obvious that it would destroy an industry of Accountants, Tax Lawyers, and Financial institutions.  Not that I’m very fond of any of those institutions, but the billions of dollars these industries generate would be gone.  Also the millions of people doing those jobs would need somewhere to work.  I’m not sure killing an Institution, and putting millions on the bread lines is a well thought out strategy.

His position on Abortion is a little frightening as well.  He thinks that Abortions in cases of Rape and Incest should be banned.  When he was asked about whether an abortion should be done to save the life of the mother he stated “that’s up to the family to decide.”  I have a problem with that stance.  If you’re going to ban it for rape and incest, then why give a pass for the life of the mother?  You’ve already got one leg in the crazy box, you might as well put the other in as well.  I’m not a fan of abortion, but I’m also not a fan of telling people how to live their lives.  I don’t know how you can call yourself a conservative, and tell people what choices they should make about their own bodies.  And forcing a 12 year old victim of incest to carry a child to term that her father produced is sickening beyond words.

Now you may ask yourself with all these faults why I like Cain?  Well, I don’t have to agree with someone to like them.  I’m not saying I would vote for him.  I just find honesty a refreshing characteristic in politics.  He’s also very articulate, which is a welcome change from Rick Perry.  If you gave Perry two words, and a map, it would be a week before you got a coherent sentence out of the man.  Not to mention I’m pretty sure he’s clinically retarded, similar to many of the prisoners he’s executed.  I also like dealing with someone who doesn’t change their mind based on the political winds of the moment.  Listening to Mitt Romney’s political ideology is much like dealing with the weather in Colorado.  If you don’t like it, just wait.  It will be completely different in just a few minutes.

So here and now, this hardcore Democrat will make a prediction:  If Herman Cain can make it past all the Caucuses, Primaries, and Tea Party crazies, there is a 50/50 chance he will be the next President.  Once he gets past that onslaught it will make for quite the interesting race to the White House.  Hell, and if Cain finds a way to keep the right-wing from finding out he’s black, his nomination will be a lock! 

The same inequities we were inflicting on women and minorities so many decades ago, we’re now inflicting on homosexuals.  And we’re using the same tools to do it.  The arguments are entirely the same.  “This is harming our children.  The country is in a tailspin.  Why don’t these people just stay home.”  My favorite of all, however, “It’s stated in the Bible…”

My neighbor and I had a discussion many years ago about homosexuality and the church.  He is a retired Marine Chaplain, and a very good and caring man.  He told me that as a lifestyle, homosexuality was considered evil by the Bible.  I reminded him that “planting two different crops side by side is also considered evil.  They’re doing a lot of that in Iowa.  What we should do about them?”  I’m still waiting for an answer.

I can tell you with pretty good certainty that women and minorities haven’t changed over the years.  Evolutionarily speaking, they are the same as they were ten thousand years ago.  They are definitely no different than they were four or five decades ago.  So what changed?  What changed to make them greater participants in our society?  What changed were attitudes.  Perspectives changed.  Nothing changed, but what we as a society decided to deem as real.  And our society is all the better for it.  I have faith that the same will happen with this next group of disenfranchised people.

When I think about it, I find it fascinating that forty years from now someone will be sitting in their living room, and writing about how we treated homosexuals in our society, and how our attitudes changed.  They will write about how even with all the horror scenarios, none of them came to fruition.  They will talk about the marches, the sit-ins, the name calling, the beatings, and even the killings.  And they will talk about that with all that, our society is stronger today, than it was yesterday.  The idea of that warms my heart.  Then I wonder:  Who’s next?

So when did it become fashionable to compare people to Hitler? What has happened in this country for someone to really think that our President, or any other member of our government for that matter, could be compared to the most infamous mass murderer of the 20th century? I find it very disturbing. Free speech aside, it is frightening to me to hear people, and even entire organizations, demonize another individual or group in order to get their point across. It reminds me of the old saying “When you point your finger at someone, just remember you have three pointing back at you.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Adolf Hitler began making a name for himself as a dynamic speaker. He also began his demonization of an entire race. By 1934, he was the President of Germany, and by 1936 he made himself Chancellor. It should be noted that Hitler came to power by doing the things which seem to be prevalent on talk shows, especially Fox News and conservative A.M. radio. He demonized an entire people for the benefit of his own political agenda.

Hitler’s hate agenda was so successful, that also in 1936, camps opened and Jews from all across Europe were thrown into pits and shot. It didn’t matter if they were young children. It didn’t matter that these people had done nothing wrong. They were the enemy. Albeit a fictional enemy created through propaganda. Does asking for a 1% tax hike on the rich really garner this type of comparison?

There was a Senator recently who campared the Obama financial plan to socialism, and that Obama was just like Hitler.  The Senator was saying that his $600,000 per year salary wasn’t enough for him to protect his children, and that Obama was going to be responsible for their plight.  Seriously?  How can he even make the comparison of what these people went through?  It’s an insult to the people who suffered during the holocaust even more than it is for the people he’s attacking.  It’s shameful. 

I have heard from a few people that the Obama healthcare plan is just like Nazi Germany. I think anyone that says that should really buy a history book and learn to read. How anyone can make that comparison is ridiculous. By the 1940s Hitler had determined that shooting Jews just wasn’t working quickly enough. He had to find a better solution…a Final Solution. That is when the gas chambers and furnaces were brought into play. Over several years, millions of people were herded into chambers and poisoned with gas. Their bodies were then put in furnaces and set ablaze. However this was after their gold teeth were pulled, heads shaved, and in some cases mutilated through experiments.  I don’t think any sane person would make a similar comparison with our healthcare system.

I have heard that the current Congress is pure evil. They have no care of anyone but their own political agenda. They would rather see their people starve and die than help them. They would run over babies in the street if they thought they could blame it on the current administration. Seriously, this is just rediculous. During Hitler’s rein there were true atrocities. People really were starving. They were caged and treated like animals. I’ve been traveling around the country.  I haven’t seen it.  Do you see things like this in your back yard?

The next time you hear someone compare anyone in our country to Hitler, change the channel. This is not a person to be given a public stage. Sure, they have the right to speak like fools, but you don’t have the obligation to listen. Hitler was a mad man.  In the world today we definitely have people capable of the atrocities for which Hitler is so famous. However, by no means are they currently serving in the U.S. government. Nor, I imagine, trying to take over our country by getting a job picking fruit. I think it’s time to calm down the rhetoric. There is true evil in the world.  Trying to make something, even if you don’t agree with it, evil, is just a waste of time.

There have been a lot of protests recently around the country against the criminals on Wall Street. I applaud the protesters for what they are doing. They are participating in the political process. Peaceful demonstration is part of the political process, just in case you’re wondering. Most people just sit around and complain about their check book getting smaller, the fees imposed on them for doing something so crazy as having a savings account, or the embarrassment they experience by being laid off from their job for having the misfortune of being an American worker. Very few of them try and do something about it.

I am a little confused by Fox News however stating that they don’t understand the reason for the protests. They are confused why anyone would speak out against corporations. According to them, it’s just un-American. I guess threatening the government, criticizing our leaders, and comparing them to Hitler IS American. Don’t speak out against Bank of America though! That’s just wrong. I’m sorry…anyone who takes Fox News seriously, needs professional help. They remind me of the grade school rumor mill. Present something as fact that is so outrageously ridiculous that only an idiot would believe it, and then see who the idiots on the playground might be. Then…when you have a full count, sell them dirt and tell them it’s candy.

I don’t agree with much that the Tea Party says. For the most part they seem to be a group of Medicare recipients complaining about government entitlements. That’s a bit like a glutton complaining the food’s too good. However, I will applaud them for at least getting involved. They don’t make sense, but at least they are part of the process.

Nothing irritates me more than someone telling me that they never vote because “Politician are all crooks anyway.” Well, perhaps they are all crooks because you’re too stupid to vote? Think about it. You’re the sheriff. You have a gun. You have a jail. You have a court of law. But then you sit on your ass in your office and complain that crime has just gotten way too out of hand. Guess what. That’s what happens when you don’t vote. You have all the tools at your disposal to dispose of the people you don’t like but you would rather sit on your ass and whine. Well guess what…you get what you pay for. Your payment is the vote. If you don’t pay, you get nothing.

I love to have discussions with educated, passionate people. I will admit that in the political arena, they are hard to find, however, they are out there. If you take the time to listen you can find them. However, since people are too lazy to do even the slightest amount of research, they end up listening to the hype rather than the reality. It makes it easier for them. Most people really are sheep. They want to have someone make a decision for them rather than taking the time to do it themselves.

So…if you don’t vote. Don’t bitch. You have no room to complain about any leader, public official, taxes, water bill, job, restaurant, automobile, grocery store, insurance company, bank, ink pen, or dust on your kitchen counter. You can complain about nothing. Because unless you are living off the land, growing your own food, cleaning your own drinking water, and living in a hole, you are part of society, and you have an obligation to participate. You can’t just sit back and complain, and not take part. Sorry…if you want to bitch. You have to vote. Otherwise…shut up.

Let me know if I need to clarify.

According to Mitt Romney, “Corporations are people, my friend.” I really do understand what he was getting at. He was postulating that corporations are made up of people, and those people benefit from the corporation. I agree…to a point. However, when you break decisions down to a spreadsheet, and your goal is for the profit of the corporation, and not for the benefit of it’s customers and employees, then your argument loses all its foundation.

Mitt himself is a perfect example of corporate irresponsibility. He served over a company whose prime goal was to cut costs, and eliminate overhead. That overhead, always, was the people hired to do the work. There is very little consideration of the human element when determining how to streamline the business process. I can think of few instances where the reorganization of the corporation ended with increased benefit to the customer, and even fewer which benefitted the employee.

Mitt is definitely the spreadsheet politician. The problem with the spreadsheet, is that no matter how much data you put together, you’re still not getting the whole picture. Also, contrary to popular opinion, numbers lie. More to the point, numbers can prove your already incorrect preconceived notions. You most likely need an example.

If you ask 100 American’s whether they are against flag burning, at least 99 of them will say yes. By that answer you can assume that American’s believe in limits on free speech. Now, if you ask that same group of people “Do you think there should be a limit on freedom of speech?” That same group of people would give you an emphatic “No.” Depending on your agenda, you can ask the question, and get the numbers you want to forward your own goals.

Corporations and politicians do this all the time. They spend millions on research to get proof for the outcome they already support. There is very little interest in understanding what the best way is to do something. The only real goal seems to be to support whatever prejudices one already has. I’m no less guilty. However, more than once, I have been proven wrong, and changed my preconceived view. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a politician do that, and I’m not sure a corporation is capable.

I will admit that you can make a business very successful by looking primarily at the numbers. However, government is not a business. It is not a for-profit enterprise. Government, at least our government, is For The People, and By The People. Therefore if our government is for the people it is not for corporations. Government needs a human element to be successful. And let’s face it. While corporations might be people, they are definitely inhuman, and no matter how you look at it, they are nobody’s friend.