The scary liberal agenda

So I just happened to be tuning in today to NPR when former congressman Vin Weber came on and used the insufferable phrase "liberal agenda." My first reaction to this goes as follows: Everything you say after using this new, horrible phrase will be taken with not only a grain of salt but a massive eye roll.

You see, people who don't like "Liberals," which is to speak that this is somehow like having a disease, think that using a truly not scary term is a way to get their point across. It's not. I mean, the only feelings it conjures is that they don't want me to look at their own agenda.

Now, I understand that, you know, fear is a good driver to get your way. It makes us go to work or get annual check ups or appreciate that which we have in this world. But, when it comes to politics, it should be outlawed to pretend like your opponent is a bad guy, because they are usually not.

And, considering that most experts would agree, the present version of the American leftist popular politician is far from liberal. In fact, they are more like diet conservative. Will the constant shift to the right wing of politics, it has been said that even Conservative folk hero Ronald Reagan wouldn't pass for a conservative in this day and age. Clinton and Obama are centrists, if anything.

True Liberals are few and far between in the current administration and government. They are too afraid to be to the left because, at one point, the word "liberal" became synonymous with anti-American, which it isn't. And don't assume Democrats are leftists, because they have to pander to the populous just as much as their Republican neighbors.

I am all for socialism, a leftist policy, because, frankly, the world is too modern and things are too messed up without it. We need to take care of one another, especially with the understanding that shit happens and some people want to run roughshod over their neighbor. As I tell people, I believe to be a Republican is to love America and hate Americans.

The agenda of the right wing of any society is to pretend like self-sacrifice and selfish behavior are one in the same. It is to pretend that, if all was privatized and regulations voided that the world would be a veritable Shangri-La. Not so much. The moment we do not have social safety nets or guaranteed education, the least of us would whither from the world or, in other parts of the world, turn to villainy. Look at Somalia, look at Calcutta. Look at places where workers are exploited, where rape is used as a weapon of war. This kind of "freedom" is un-American. But that is what happens when a new line is drawn daily, pushing the person's back to the wall. You will eventually fight back or be killed.

America should, by all accounts, be better than it has become. It shouldn't be a place where the "haves" make the rules. Often times they aren't even right, just covering their own asses. And the saddest part is, for money, for access and prestige, the values of ones fellow human is compromised, a bullhorn given to the loudest shouters, the message of "you should be afraid of those that actually care" trampled upon, in the name of a not so free market.

The scariest part is that people, average humans with advantages not known by the masses, turn into characters, betraying their shared convictions so as to be seen, to be popular or to make the almighty dollar. Meanwhile well-meaning people, assuming that favor will be given to them in the future, give them the keys to kingdom.

If the "Liberal Agenda" is to make sure my fellow Americans get what they need, I am all for it. And maybe those that are being labeled should stop pretending it doesn't hurt them, because it does. When they are out of a job or watching all they worked for get trampled upon in the name of keeping the "Haves" happy, then they will truly realize they had the power all along, to grab the bullhorn and tell the talking heads to shut the hell up.

Sarah Palin is going to be outed as a liar

Today a bomb got dropped on the McCain-Palin ticket: Bristol Palin is 5 months pregnant. You know what? I honestly believe it is her second child. Why? Well, there is a lot of evidence pointing to her "younger sibling" Trig being her child, not her brother.

But who knows, really? Sarah Palin, her daughter, and Jesus?

My problem is that she is a huge hypocrite. Being a parent, to me, means that you practice what you preach. You want to let your underage daughter get pregnant? Then don't act like you are so perfect. Republicans act like they know better all the time. It pisses me off. If that want to point at liberals and say that we think we are so smart, then start behaving like you want others to behave.

People are going to "forgive" the actions of Palin and her daughter but it smells, to me, like a cover up. That's too bad. It means that, if the truth were to come out, then McCain not only picked a crappy running mate but women, in the Republican party, will lose even more traction.

I just wish that this wasn't such a pathetic story.

Our political process

Ah the media. Owned by corporations and giving us what they think we want, what we don't necessarily need, and doing it to make a buck or two. They have struck again and, like most other times, they create their own drama.

This past week we saw Barrack Obama raked over the coals again for making a comment that, frankly, some people, not all, don't agree with. He unfortunately used phrasing that made him appear to be an elitist, pointing to our love of fear and how Pennsylvanians could vote based on their love of guns and God.

Now, don't get me wrong, I hate the idea that voting, the one thing we truly get a say with (take with grain of salt) is based on arbitrary things like your views on religion and firearms but that's the kind of America we live in.

But to not address the issue of why we vote is to not get to the true nature of electing people. When driven by fear, we get presidents like George W. Bush. Playing off the fear that our personal safety is always at stake, we could, hopefully not, elect John McCain. Is that what we want?

Politicians wield a whole lot of power. They can affect commerce, infrastructure and a whole of people's lives. If they so choose, they could get you or I an opportunity to have jobs in our community or put us on the front line of the war.

But what people base their decisions on can be far too complex to give the right, not necessarily the most popular, the job of governance. Some argue that we should have to be informed to vote. Others argue that we should just keep everything exactly the same way.

I would say that we should amp up the qualifications to be a candidate, therefore negating the need to be an informed voter. We could make it so that anyone wanting to be a politico has to have a license to be so. They could have to take a series of courses and exams and get certified to be in government. That way, when it comes to running for office, we know that this person isn't just trying to get into power to get into power.

Right now we are given all stripes of people in power. Most come from being lawyers and businesspeople. The rare few are physicians or actors (really?) and it runs like a popularity contest. But if all had to have the same qualifications then we could be guaranteed that they had all, at minimum, read the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Of course, that would take me out of the running but, then again, would you vote for an atheist, non-gun-owning liberal? Don't think so.

Peace.