I'm surprised that I woke up this morning and the country wasn't in the midst of civil war. After the pillaging of the nation by our elected officials and the specialists from K. Street this past week, I'm surprised that the majority of Americans haven't woken up this morning feeling as if they had been gang raped. I'm not sure its quite sunken in yet, many of us are still in denial. I used to resent those long vacations that law makers take every three months or so, thinking that they don't really do much work, so why do they deserve so much time off? Half the time, they don't even read the laws that they pass, there are a huge number of pages, and amendments that have nothing to do with the particular law that they are passing. Now, I say let them have the time off to enjoy time with their families, work on getting reelected, go on a junket paid for by some big corporate lobby group, anything to get them to stop f-ing the American people.
There are three truly hideous bills passed the last week that will have long and expensive impacts on the nation. Lets see…CAFTA, which has basically made it easier for corporations to ship more jobs to Central America, the Energy Bill that gives our tax dollars to large energy companies and enables them to legally pollute the water that we drink, and the Transportation Bill which is basically a way for Senators and Congressmen to get federal dollars funneled into their home districts for bridges and highways named after the Senators. Since each bill is uniquely larcenous in its own way, I'm going to have to write three separate pieces about each one individually just so that I know all of the details of how I have been fleeced.
The additional insult piled upon all of this injury was the law passed that shields gun manufacturers from liability if the product happens to blow the brains out of a seven year old. I'm not sure why this legislation was so urgent, when we have so many other serious issues to consider, but the legislators passed it, because everyone knows, that guns don't kill people, people do. Now any liquor store owner in any state in the country would probably tell you that they'd rather be facing a guy with a knife or a blunt instrument, than look down the barrel of a forty-five, but they didn't get to vote. There are probably many law enforcement officials would prefer that every 16 year old in the hood was not armed and therefore dangerous, but they didn't get to vote either. Its not the gun makers fault that people are dying, they are just the ones who are profiting from it. Why should they be liable? How many Democrats decided that the producers of weapons should be absolved of the sin of providing the means of taking life?
What exactly is the purpose of voting yes for this legislation? Are the constituents of these Democratic Senators (these guys who are supposed to be on the side of the people) banging at the office doors of the Dirksen Building demanding that we pass this legislation? Not so much, there is no ordinary citizen who can even get near the Senate office building unless they are related to a rich donor. The Democrats who voted yea for this measure are looking for some sort of boost to the reelection coffers, or a cushy job with K. Street after the American people (if they ever wake up and get a clue) toss them out on their asses for giving a free pass to those who aided and enabled criminals to kill more quickly and efficiently. When so many serious issues such as war and poverty face this nation, our leaders choose to spend time on laws that are not useful, and protect the few Americans that will never be working in a 7-11 and have to look down the barrel of a perfectly legal product designed to make oatmeal out of their brains.
Why do our elected officials charged with the responsibility to protect all Americans choose only to protect the ones who don’t need it? You have to get really cynical to find the correct answer and leave any idealism that you still may hold close, at the door. The correct answer is always another question.
