People Suck!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nasty-campaign-tactics-phony-voting-instructions-160937595--election.html

((So before I start this rant, let me say that it is a rant about human nature, not politics which I have recently sworn off of.  Unfortunately because of the subject matter, some mention of politics is unavoidable, so any who wish may mock me on falling off the tating wagon on just the second day.))

((Secondly, I'd like to point out that two of the things mentioned in the article do not fit the headline and subject of the article.  The video is simply that, a video.  It contains no secret mind control techniques to make you vote against Obama.  Well as far as I know anyway.  The video, much like the recent Obama movie, may reinforce the views of those who already believe that he is evil and dangerous, but will do very little to effect the Independents and Democrat voters.  If for no other reason than pretty much everyone is bone tired of all this shift and ready for the election to be over.  The reference to billboards being placed in minority neighborhoods talking about voter fraud etc as dirty tactics trying to keep the poor and minority voters from voting is basically bull.  Sorry, this is 2012 not 1897, the only way voter fraud laws should intimidate you and keep you from voting is...well if you are actually committing voter fraud.  Okay, foreshadowing done, on the with rant!))

People Suck!  As a whole, I believe that humans may be the only mistake God ever made.  (Well except for peaches.  What's up with that huge pit?)  And nothing shows that more than events mentioned in the above article.  People, not content with letting whoever will win the election do it legally and honestly, are targeting voters all over the country.  They are lying to them, cheating them and essentially trying to disenfranchise them in the hopes of swaying the election one way or another.

I suppose it makes sense that people on both sides are nervous.  The Presidential Race is one of the closest I have ever seen with both Candidates running neck and neck into the home stretch.  (Okay serious aside here, Foot race between Obama and Romney, who would win?  I'd put Romney as a winner since Obama is a recovering smoker, but Obama might have a chance since he does play basketball.  What do you think?  Okay aside over.)  Some of the forces in play must be suffering serious panic attacks right now.

Keep in mind that the tactics mentioned in the article aren't new nor is the only recent election they have been used in.  Any time there is a major election, fraudsters trot out the fake phone calls and phoney "officials" to try to sway the election.  Hell, before phones they probably used carrier pigeons and fake Deputy badges to pull it off.  What is unique in this election is the sheer volume of it.  Pundits are calling this the "most important Presidential Election" in the past 50 years and the cheaters and swindlers seem to believe them

Now I truly and honestly doubt that either candidate has any involvement in this crap.  I like to think that either of them is a little too noble to mess with it all.  I also have serious doubts that any of the Party Leaders are even remotely involved for hopefully the same reason.  Generally, this sort of thing is carried out on a local/state level by individuals or small groups who truly believe that their actions are what is good for their Party.  These people believe that any actions they take no matter how criminal or morally repugnant they may be are justified as long as THEIR Party wins.

So like I said, People Suck!  I have seen so much hating on both sides of the coin this election season where people are vilified simply because their stance is different.  I have seen both candidates bombarded with half truths and outright lies.  Okay yes, the Candidates have done it too, but that doesn't make it right.  Now this Shadow Force (Catchy may use that in a book) is out there targeting people and trying to strip them of the most important right our country gives us, the right to vote and try to determine the path our nation will take.  People Suck!

END OF RANT

Possibly my last Pollytickal Tate ever so listen up.

So to make a long story short ("Too late!"  Okay who can remember what movie that quote is from?), I recently posted on FB and in a blog here my beliefs that the problems facing us here in the US are the result of actions by people from all political parties and belief sections and that the only way we could ever fix these problems is to stop focusing on who is affiliated with which group.  My rant wasn't aimed at Reboobicans or Damnocrats, Liarberals or Cantservatives.  Instead it was aimed at every single Schmuck who ever took office and failed the American people.  One of my oldest and strongest friends posted a well written, well thought out response.  In it, he strongly disagreed with my statement and even accused me of bias.

Now I know what most of you (All two of you that read this) are thinking.  HOLY CRAP!  Them's fighting words!  Two of my online friends even asked me if I was still friends with said friend.  Before I answer that question, let's address the comment back to front.  Am I biased?  Huh, I like to think otherwise, but I also like to believe in Dragons, Unicorns and Pixies.  I try to keep an open mind about pretty much everything in life including politics.  I equally despise both political parties, but truly do try to see the best in all arguments. 

Second (or is it first since I am going back to front?) He disagreed with me!  Huh, really?  Like that is a first.  Sorry folks, people disagree with people.  Hell this country was founded because we "disagreed" with King George.  If you can't handle people disagreeing with you, then you need to find a nice dark cave somewhere and hide because I can promise you that SOMEONE is going to disagree with you.  Hells, even in the deepest darkest futures imagined by writers (1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451...What?  Sue me, I am an author I use literary references!) there are always people who disagree with the main stream.  If I stopped being friends with people just because they disagreed with me I would have been a much lonelier man.

Now if one of my friends stops being my friend because they dislike my viewpoints, that's cool too.  If my views on any subject are that horrendous then they Should "disavow any knowledge."  I hope and pray that no one ever does.  I hope that my friends both old (Very old!) and new continue to disagree with me, tell me I am a jerk and basically help keep me grounded in whatever form of reality may exist.  In return, I will continue to arguify with them and post as much thoughtiness as I can. 

We NEED more people arguing objectively about everything that's fracked up in the world not less.  Whether they are right or wrong, we need people who question EVERYTHING!  If you feel that Moon Beams are causing mutations in Zombie Fungus Possessed Ants, then argue your point.  (The sad thing here is that I am not making up the Fungus Zombie Ants.  Like I always say, "I can't make this shift up.")  I truly shudder to think what would happen if debate/arguifying were squashed.  (Well besides NAZI Germany and Cold War USSR that is.)  If my friends suddenly stopped arguifying with me and started agreeing with everything I said, I'd start looking for alien pods.

So yes, HE disagreed with me!  The Rat Dastard said I was biased!  Meh so what?  (Although I still my Ass is not Bi and is happily married.  All of that time spent behind the barn with his "buddy" Stan is just quality guy time.  I may be biased.  Hells, I prolly am biased.  Either way, HE disagreed with me.  Get over it!  Move on!  I hope that anyone who disagrees with me keeps on doing so for a very long time to come.

END OF RANT

Postscript to EOR:  Before anyone asks, I am not halting my Pollytical Tating because of the comments mentioned above despite what some may think.  The plain and simple fact is that I write most of my tating to amuse and entertain.  I am not nor am I qualified to be a Professional Pollytickal Tator.  (Course that doesn't stop a lot of people on pretty much all the Networks.)  I could very well be completely wrong in every single statement I have ever made about Politics and Politicians.  I don't like to think so but who likes to think they are wrong.  Since I don't have the energy and interest necessary to become a professional Tator, I will stick to ranting about bad service, idiots in the street and life in general and leave the Politics to the more informed. 

Where the problem really lies.

As I look on the final days (THANK GOD!) of this election season, I ponder one thing.  As much as we love the Hoopla and Pageantry of it all, Presidents (In the end) aren't important.  Lets take Romney for an example.  Lets say that he is being completely honest about his desires to cut taxes, trim the Federal Government and help the American people.  It is a stretch but let's play pretend.  MITT ROMNEY WANTS TO DO EVERYTHING HE CAN TO SAVE AMERICA!  (Okay that one hurt even me, but I'll recover.)

Or if you'd like, let's say that Obama fully intended on keeping his grand and glorious promises when he was elected.  He fully intended on balancing the budget, shutting down the wars and everything else that he promises.  Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that both candidates fully intended on being men of their word.  In the end, what they intended really doesn't amount to much because when it comes right down to it, the Presidents (Pubs or Dims) aren't the problem or at least aren't all of it.  The problem is that the Whole Damned Government is fugged up!

A wise man once said, "No one who is in a position of power will ever vote to give themselves less power."  Even the President is a strange mix of JFK/Ghandi/Albert Einstein (Man not sure what that'd look like but he have awesome hair), he still has to deal with Congress and Senate who are pretty much a bunch of crotchety old men and women many of whom have been around since the time of the Mammoths.  Matter of fact the only thing that has really changed in those branches is that the color palette has expanded somewhat and women joined the club.

This exclusive club wields ridiculous amounts of power over an insane amount of money.  They are firmly entrenched in their bunkers and have no intention of giving ground.  (Now there was a brief exception to this rule with the whole Tea Party shake up, but business has pretty much returned to normal.)  These people vote for things like airports being built near their home towns so that they don't have to commute even though the airport operates at a loss because there aren't enough people flying out of it.  They cut COLA for everyone else but vote themselves pay increases every year.  They talk about freezing or even cutting Military Pay and cut funding for Veterans Benefits but make damned sure their own bennies are firmly in place.

Now, why on Earth would these impossibly powerful men and women ever do anything to threaten their way of life?  And keep in mind I am talking about Reboobicans and Damnocrats, Cantservatives and Liarberals together in this rant.  Yes there are good people on both sides in there honestly trying their best to make things better, but they are as outnumbered as Custer was.

I truly believe that if we survive long enough, things will change.  More and more people are getting angrier and angrier each year.  The Tea Party revolution shows this, I think it just happened a little too soon.  Eventually we are going to be so damned miserable and so damned pissed that we will see through all the BS Rhetoric from both sides and finally elect people that will do the job.  Hopefully sooner than later.

End of Rant

PS to Rant:  I keep hearing people suggesting Term Limits as a possible solution.  I don't necessarily agree with that.  I lean more towards Performance Evaluations.  Someone can pretty much stay in office indefinitely as long as they can prove that they are actually performing the job that their constituents elected them for.  Kind of a "Hey, you jerks promised to balance the budge, fix Social Security and Capture Adolph Hitler's Evil Clone and none of that shift has been done.  You're outta here!"

Not funny, will never be funny

"Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18 of 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby airstrip and in Georgetown, Guyana's capital. The name of the settlement became synonymous with the incidents at those locations.
A total of 909 Temple members died in Jonestown, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning, in an event termed "revolutionary suicide" by Jones and some members on an audio tape of the event and in prior discussions. This includes over 200 murdered children. The poisonings in Jonestown followed the murder of five others by Temple members at a nearby Port Kaituma airstrip. The victims included United States Congressman Leo Ryan. Four other Temple members died in Georgetown at Jones's command.
To the extent the actions in Jonestown were viewed as a mass murder, it was the largest such event in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001.^" 

^{From Wikipedia}

  

^{I have heard the phrase, "Drink the Kool-aid" used many times over the years, but never as many times as I have during this presidential election.  People love to use it to describe the actions of anyone who doesn't agree with "the right" view point.  I see it at least once or thrice in any comment section of the articles I read every day.  I hear it on the streets and even see it in the online gaming communities.  Well, I would like to say one thing to all these people.}

^{SHUT THE FUCK UP!}  

^{In 1978, 907 people including 200 children and infants died in a massive ritual suicide by drinking poison laced flavored drink.  Even today, almost 40 years later, this still stands as a shocking act.  There is nothing funny about it.  Anyone who reads this history should be shocked and horrified by what happened.  When it is discussed, it should be talked about in serious, thoughtful tones in respect to the lives lost.  It should never have become an Internet Meme used to belittle those who disagree with you.}

^{Now some will argue that most of these people drank the poison willingly because they were fanatics following a Mad man named Jones and they'd be correct.  Most of the dead went to their deaths willingly believing that their suicide would garner them a place in Heaven.  However, some including small children, had to be "helped" by the more devout by making them drink.  Infants and children to young to understand what was happening were given the poison by their parents.  Either way, the event became one of the largest murder/suicides in the history of...well History.}

^{In no way should this ever be funny.  In no way should it be alright to use this horrible moment in Human history just to make fun of someone else.  Certain events in our history are horrible and should always be treated with respect: The Holocaust, The Trail of Tears, The Salem Witch Craft Trials, the Japanese Internment Camps and the Bataan Death March are just a few of these.  If you want to criticize "them" that's okay.  Everyone is entitled to agree or disagree as they see fit.  Just try to respect the past while you do it.}

^{End of Rant} 

Semantics in Pollyticks

I think it is a sign of just how far this election has devolved when, instead of talking about any real issue or problem facing us today, we have devolved down into arguments of semantics.  People railed on Obama because "He didn't mention specific acts of terrorism" and Dems cried foul.  Now, People are railing on Romney because he didn't mention a specific body of water in his little Syria/Iran route to the sea Comment and the Reps are scrambling to say "No no,  he actually meant this not so dumb sounding thing."

We have so many things wrong with this country.  Unemployment is still far to high.  Social Security, after being used as Politicians' slush fund over the years, is in direct danger of becoming insolvent.  Two wars still raging with no end in sight.  (Yes I know the Iraq War is "officially" over with, but we still have troops there in harms way.)  Direct threats against our most basic liberties here at home with security agencies having the rights and wherewithal to monitor, question and arrest citizens on a whim.  Presidential sanctioned Drone strikes on foreign soil oftentimes the soil of our nominal allies.  A multi-trillion dollar deficit that is only going to get worse with some serious efforts.

Neither Reps or Dems have given us any real clue how they are going to deal with all of these problems.  A drip of data here and a drab of information there comes out occasionally just to make us think that they have some sort of real plan, but for the most part it is generalities. 

Romney with his "I will cut taxes for all Americans, increase military spending while reducing the deficit" speech sounds wonderful, but his inability to give details beyond "closing tax loopholes" that have yet to be mentioned makes one ache for details.

Obama claims "he will put Americans back to work, finally end the conflicts overseas and bring our troops home, raise taxes on the very rich and reduce taxes on the the middle/lower class.  He claims he will reduce the deficit and have a balanced budget in ten years."  Again, long on promises and short of details.

Hence we have this war of semantics being waged on both sides.  Vague promises of rosy futures filled with rainbows and sparkle ponies while doing a two man con job in the present to keep us from realizing that neither side has any sort of real plan.  It's the classic "double bag con" where the two Hucksters take turns distracting the Mark till he is so confused he doesn't realize that the "bag full of money" he is holding is filled with paper clippings and his watch, wallet and ring are missing.

We have two weeks left till the election (Thank Cthulhu!) and at this point I really don't care who wins.  At this point all the "damage" either candidate can do has already been done so I would love to see some real data.  I would love to see real plans with true facts tossed around.  Course I'd also like a new laptop and a cast iron waffle iron.  I really don't see any of those things happening.