Parodies Lost

Gay Marriage: Conversation in a Cloud of Confusion

Here's a Great Truth that I share with some trepidation:

The past is a myth, the future is unknowable, and the present is an illusion. 

Consider:  Numerous studies have demonstrated not only do we recreate our memories to support what we currently believe, but researchers can create false memories by manipulating subjects.  The future, well, we know we don't know it.  As for the present, it just passed us by & is now the past.  Oops, did it again.  There is never a now that lasts longer than a moment.

So the painful reality is that we're adrift in a world of our own creation that may or may not resemble the world of another.  And the question is not, "Why can't we all just get along?"  It is, rather, "How in the world do we ever talk to one another?"  And "how can we reach agreement about things when we can't be sure my idea of the thing resembles yours?"  Pretty cool, eh?

Just for kicks, let's apply this view of reality to gay marriage.  For all intents and purposes, the issue is already being decided as young people grow older & bring their more liberal, pro-gay views with them.  But after reading what anti-gay marriage people have said, I realized that the religious folk who oppose it honestly believe that gays getting married somehow violates their core values; even worse, their spiritual lives will be diminished by two guys or women exchanging vows.  For many, it's not being a bigot or anti-gay; they're afraid of losing something or having their world tainted. Their fear is real just as their belief in the importance of sustaining their values.

Those in favor of gay marriage often have no idea what those religious folk are talking about.  How can two people of the same sex getting married in any way diminish the values of other people?  In fact, the denial of the right of gays to marry violates the values of those who support it. The religious arguments don't make sense to the pro-gay marriage forces; worse, it seems to bring out the most repressive part of organized religion.  "This is my point of view, and it will control your life...like it or not."

Like many social issues, gay marriage is a battle between two deeply held world views; it' transcends the political into something deeper, more fundamental.  The two sides live in completely different realities.

Let us climb down from the mountain for a moment, because this phenomenon also works its wonders on a less global scale.  When my bride & I have an argument, we almost always discover it happened because of confusion about something we saw differently.  We're not disagreeing about "x"; it's that one of us saw "y" & the other "z."  Once we recognize the two points of view, the argument goes away.  All along we thought we'd been seeing the same thing, but we weren't. 

The Tower of Babel isn't a myth; it's the reality in which we live.  As Dylan sang, "Pretty scary."

And that's the truth.   And...

In Jameson Veritas

 

(By the way, the links below show up on my blog service; I have no idea if they're any good, but I tried to give all sides of the debate.)

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The Gospel According to Mark

And so it came to pass in the Land of US that great and fearsome men and women joined in battle upon the mount known simply as the HILL.  Quarter was neither asked for nor given, but oddly there was little blood shed upon the field of battle as the weapons employed by both sides consisted primarily of razor-sharp words, distorted facts, and hysterical threats, none of which have been known to do more than bruise.

Across from the HILL was a modest dwelling in which lived a modest man, some say a gentleman, who often sat in darkness calling upon strange powers only he could perceive.  These powers, so he was told by a wise and noble soul, could bring warring tribes to a place of peace and understanding.  Alas, little did he know that this noble soul came from a time long past when such things as compromise, respect, dignity, and truth had some sway over the land.  So this modest man relied on appeals to THE PEOPLE and the summoning of the warring tribes to what were called in earlier times, SUMMITS. 

It was a time of danger; the very Land of US was threatened with disaster, but none could agree on the nature of that which could topple this place most blessed and exceptional.  One wrong step and the very foundations of the Land of US would crumble like shifting sands buffeted by sea storms.  All thought they had compromised to the point of disaster, but their compromises left gaping holes in any possible agreement. 

Weeks dwindled to days which were reduced to hours.  There was so little time remaining and yet decisions of such weight and import remained.  The great and fearsome men and women grew frantic; the people for whom they labored in such splendor had long given up hope; and the hours were soon measured in minutes.

In the end there was a decision.  It matters not what was decided nor who gave up what.  The decision was all. 

The Lord looked down upon the HILL and regretted ever having promised Noah that He would never bring another catastrophe to destroy all humanity.

In Jameson Veritas

Pentagon Corruption, Chesapeake Dead Zone, Republican Zombies

Want Money?

All this fuss over the federal budget.  Such a fuss.  Want some easy cash?  Look no further than your friendly Department of Defense; sacrosanct to the Partiers of Tea but that shouldn't prevent sane people from reading a simple headline & taking action.  For example, today's Washington Post, front page:

U.S. trucking funds reach Taliban, military-led investigation concludes

So it seems that there was “documented, credible evidence . . . of involvement in a criminal enterprise or support for the enemy” by four of the eight prime contractors.  Not to mention "profiteering, money laundering and kickbacks to Afghan power brokers, government officials and police officers. Six of the companies were found to have been associated with “'fraudulent paperwork and behavior'.”

But, hell, it's only $2.16 billion, but the great part...ready, true blue Americans...is that the Defense genuises in March of this year extended the contracts of the eight trucking firms for six months.

There's gotta be a least two zillion dollars just lying around in the Pentagon.  That should cover at least part of the debt.

Take That! Mississippi Delta

For years, we in the greater District of Columbia area have had to watch with salivating glands the growing dead zone in the Mississippi Delta region.  It's like this amazingly cool Stephen King novel brought to life...well, brought to death if one wants to be accurate.  Well, no longer.  The Chesapeake Swamp (AKA Chesapeake Bay)  A giant underwater “dead zone” in the Chesapeake Bay is growing at an alarming rate.  Let's hear it for the good people of Delaware, Maryland, D.C., & Virginia.  We ain't gonna be number 2 for a bunch of southerners.  Who needs those blue crabs anyway?

Republican Zombies

O.k., it's time to get serious.  I can understand why millionaires and billionaires and other forms of rich people would support the Republican Party, but until recently it had bewildered and befuddled me how the average citizen could support the party that seems to be dedicated to the destruction of the middle class. 

What an amazing group of muddleheads.

In Jameson Veritas

Republicans: Unusually Cruel AND Fiscally Challenged

One of the great mysteries of modern society is what goes on in the brains of Republican Members of Congress (Motto:  "If I Hurts Obama, It Helps America.")  Forget the insane obsession (is that redundant?) to slash the budget in emulation of those economic powerhouses Greece, Ireland, and Portugal.  Forget the editing of those stirring words on the Statue of Liberty to now read:  "No more room, go home greaseballs and ragheads."  Forget the fiscal blinders they're required to wear, the only explanation for policies that continue to empower the wealthy at the expense of our dwindling middle class. 

These so-called patriots are not only insensitive and cruel, apparently believing that people in poverty want to be poor, and that all it takes it a little hard work and gumption, they're fiscal morons.

Take the latest bill passed by House Republicans...which has as much chance of being enacted into law as me growing more hair on my head...and I've tried Rogaine so don't even think of mentioning that.   An article in the Friday, June 17th Washington Post announces that House Elephants have voted to cut food safety funds and emergency food programs for poor mothers, infants, and children.

The last Congress passed a landmark foodsafety program, the first major overall of our food safety laws since 1938.  This congress was to fund it.  The goal was not only to have better and more frequent inspections of U.S. producers but the growing foreign invasion of food stuffs.  Ah, but wise Rep. Jack Kingston (R.-GA) said that our food supply is "99.9%" safe, so the pachyderms looked at President Obama's $955 million request and cut it to $750 million--$87 million less than the FDA is currently receiving.  Leave it up to the private sector to control safety, they proclaimed.  Look how well they've done in the past, they said...and look at the coal and oil industries for examples of companies who put safety first.  They must have looked at the Centers for Disease Control data and shrugged, "Not to bad."  The CDC "estimates that 48 million Americans get sick from tainted food every year.  Of those, about 28,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die."  (On the right are e-coli...want the bad ones in your gut???)

They also slashed $832 million from a an emergency food program that supports 325,000 mothers and children.

But in the heated negotiations led by VP Biden to come to agreement on the budget and debt ceiling, defense cuts are off the table.  No way.  We need every cruise missile, Defense Department contract to the defense industry, and military marching band.

The lack of humanity, of Christian charity, of empathy for their fellow Americans is, well, breathtaking.

But the problem is that the Republicans are terrible at math, too.  Perhaps the biggest conservative blind spot is the cost of doing nothing.  Let's run some rough numbers.

What's the cost of 48 million people getting sick?  I'm no actuary but let's just assume two doctor visits, one prescription, and various sundries like Hostess Cup Cakes to make the illness more tolerable, although I'd think people with food poisoning might want to hold off on the cupcakes until they're better.  I'm going to guess $200, which means an annual cost of, believe it or not, $9.6 billion dollars. 

The average cost for one night in a hospital is about $4,000.  Having enjoyed a rather rambunctious bout of food poisoning, I can tell you one night isn't going to cut it.  You'd be lucky to get out in three or four, but let's say two for the sake of argument.  That's $224,000,000 for those hospitalized.  Of course, that doesn't count time at home to recover, potential loss of wages or additional medical costs.

And I'm not even going to try to figure out the cost of a death...but the reality is we don't need to. 

The Republican math wizards are imposing a cost of almost $10 billion dollars on the American people to save spending $205 million dollars.  Ah, let's be fair, even that extra money isn't going to catch every case of food-born illness, so let's say it reduces the incidence by 25 percent.  That's an imposition of $2.5 billion (the amount spent by those who wouldn't have gotten ill) to save $205 million. 

Yeah, Big Government does nothing right.  Corporate America does nothing wrong.  And if I close my eyes and wish really, really hard, I'll wake up tomorrow having lost that extra 15 pounds by magic.

I simply don't understand the Republicans.  It's as if they're anti-American or something.

Sigh...

In Jameson Veritas

 

 

 

Hey Republicans: It's Vouchercare, Not Medicare

For those of you following the Republican Medicare/Voucher debate, there's not much for me to do but link to today's column in The New York Times by Paul Krugman. 

Some highlights:

Republicans are indeed seeking to dismantle Medicare as we know it, replacing it with a much worse program.

I’ll just quote the blogger Duncan Black, who summarizes this as saying that “when we replace the Marines with a pizza, we’ll call the pizza the Marines.”

Based on the [Congressional] budget office estimates, the typical senior would end up paying around $6,000 more out of pocket in the plan’s first year of operation.

Medicare as we know it is unsustainable? Nonsense.  With...[reasonable] changes it should be entirely possible to maintain a system that provides all older Americans with guaranteed essential health care.

So in voting for the House budget plan, Republicans voted to end Medicare. Saying that isn’t demagoguery, it’s just pointing out the truth.

What to me is completely befuddling is why Republicans want to drop such a drastic and destructive bomb on the backs of seniors instead of offering suggestions to improve Medicare and make is sustainable?  They're not stupid...well, most of them aren't stupid...or there are some who are smart.  I don't think they're evil...well, Michele Bachman has this really mean look in her eyes, and Eric Cantor reminds me of a dangerous snake lying in wait to paralyze you with a bite on the foot and then eat you slowly as you're still alive and it's hard to take John Boehner seriously when he's orange and Ron Paul is a sincere libertarian which is the wrong philosophy for a country of greedy, me-firsters...but I digress. 

So if the GOP isn't evil or stupid, what's going on?  Ignorant?  Uninformed?  Anti-seniors?  Anti-poor people?  How can Paul Ryan propose this kind of moronic plan with a straight face?

That's a lot of questions.  But I have to tell you, the Republicans are just confusing the hell out of me.

However, it remains...

In Jameson Veritas