What If They Held an Election and Nobody Showed?

Election Day is upon us once again, and like most off year elections, only a distressing minority of the electorate will bother sacrificing a few moments of their precious time to make their voice heard.

The projected turn out in my state was listed as 20 to 25% of eligible voters. Most commentators I've read consider even that projection to be an overestimation of the probable result. From the Altoona Mirror (print edition only, it's an AP story so I'm linking to it at PhillyBlurbs):

Political science professor Christopher Borick, of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, predicted Monday only 20 to 25 percent of the state's 8.2 million registered voters will bother to cast ballots in the election, which comes between last year's elections for governor and a U.S. Senate seat and next year's campaigns for president and the other Senate seat.

Franklin & Marshall College pollster Terry Madonna, in Lancaster, leaned toward the lower end of Borick's turnout range.

"I think, if we get to 20 (percent), declare victory," Madonna said.

Why is the estimated turn out so low? Let's take my home county as an example.

For Tuesday's election, Blair County has 83,650 registered voters, the county's voter registration office reports. Those who go to the polls will be able to cast ballots for county commissioner, municipal and school board candidates and judicial candidates for the commonwealth, superior and magisterial district courts.

Two years ago, with the same kind of public offices up for grabs, 19.93 percent of Blair County's 84,305 registered voters showed up to cast ballots.

In contrast, more than twice that - 43.4 percent - voted in November 2010 when the ballot had gubernatorial and legislative contenders.

In November 2008, when Barack Obama and John McCain were seeking the nation's presidency, Blair County's voter turnout was 64.87 percent.

Above quote from an online Altoona Mirror article on voter turn out. Why they have two separate articles on the same subject with the same message, one for the fish wrap and one for the interwebs, is a question I can not answer.

Pushing that mystery to the side, we see a rough 60/40/20 split in turn out, depending on the offices up for grabs. Presidential elections get about 60% of my neighbors off their ass, State elections draw 40ish%, and local contests are decided by a few people who got lost and randomly showed up at the polling place on their way to lunch.

I know this isn't a glamorous election year locally. I realize that judicial elections in PA are a strange beast that end up confusing more than a few voters. I assume that more than a few people who would never think of missing a presidential election are staying home today because they think this election doesn't really matter.

And turn out like this causes me to worry about the future of democracy in our nation. People get sucked in to the big races, the nationwide and statewide contests, to the point that they forget how local elections actually effect their lives. Other than 2 state judicial elections, today's ballot also included retention votes on several other judges, the election of Blair County commissioners and leadership positions for individual municipalities, and school board contests for most local school districts. These offices set local tax rates and make decisions that effect every citizen in the area, decisions that can arguably effect us all much more than decisions made at the National or State level, and yet only 20% of my neighbors will take the five minutes required to cast a ballot.

While I was at my polling place, only one other voter showed up. Two high school students with the look of the truly bored roamed the parking lot with campaign literature on the local school board race. Four poll workers with an average apparent age of 70 cackled, drank coffee, and gossiped loudly about how the town liberal showed up for another year. This is democracy?

If 60% of registered voters showed up at the polls today, I can honestly say that my vote would have been worthless. Since I am from an incredibly red district in a bluish state, most local elections offer me no real choices. If a Democrat even bothers to run for whatever office is up for election, they get crushed 70-30, and half the local offices have unopposed Republicans, which leads to some creative write in votes. In cases like that, I pick out one ignorant, far right, wingnut who's annoyed me recently, and take solace in the fact that I just cancelled out his vote.

But when only 20% bother to cast ballots, every member of that 20 suddenly has much more clout than they should. It is still 1 person, 1 vote, but when 80% of voters check themselves off the list, that 1 vote is cast in a louder voice. What havoc could we cause if a significant portion of local registered Democrats made it a point to go to the polls no matter what the contest? Could we turn the county blue, if only for a year?

Voting is a right people are willing to die for, yet we voluntarily sacrifice the right for no good reason.

All elections affect you. Your vote counts. Wake the fuck up and be a citizen of the country you claim so much to love.

Yes, the system is damaged, if not broken. Yes, change is needed. But not voting is not an effective strategy for self-governance, or for change.

Vote or shut the fuck up.

For Republicans, It Is All About Jobs And The Economy

It's a no-brainer.

The Country is mired in the Great Recession with little signs of recovery. The sitting Democratic President, sharing dangerously low approval ratings with Congress, has finally appeared to grow a spine, aggressively pushing his jobs package while painting Congressional Republicans as obstructionists. And as the Occupy movement continues to spread from city to city, nation to nation, struggling Republican presidential candidates have a surprising chance to get back into a race that Mitt Romney, despite every opportunity, has failed to claim.

The plan?

1. Bring the 7th anti-abortion bill of the year to a vote in the House.
2. Have candidates double down on anti-abortion rhetoric.
3. Watch as a former Republican State Attorney General, who discussed patients private medical records with Bill O'Reilly on national television as part of his witch hunt against Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who I must point out was gunned down and killed in cold blood by an anti-abortion fanatic, faces the suspension of his ability to practice law for ethics violations without a care, thanks perhaps to his new found prominence in the anti-abortion movement.
4. ?????
5. JOBS!!!!!

It could be worse, I guess. They could be hypocritical as well. I mean, imagine if, at the same time they were trying to massively increase the power of government over a woman's body, they were also portraying themselves as the anti-government party, telling their supporters that government was the problem, and that less government interference with private citizens was the solution.

While you're imagining, here's Rachael Maddow with the story.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Hulk Turns Heel On Obama

In what may be the most shocking event of the political season, Bruce Banner turned into a large green creature and ripped into President Obama.

Wait. What? Are you sure?

Hulk Hogan rips into Obama?

He's still alive?

His political opinions are relevant because............

I got nothing.

Via Yahoo News reporting off of Faux News' cutting-edge, pulse of the nation show Fox and Friends:

Fake wrestling champion Hulk Hogan supported President Obama in 2008, but alas, the honeymoon is over, Hogan said Thursday during a Fox News appearance.

"I was a big Obama supporter and kinda, like, believed everything he said he was gonna do," Hogan said on Fox and Friends. "But now that nothing's happened..."

Hogan said he was still sore about the president using his theme song, "I Am a Real American" when Obama addressed the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner shortly after he released his long form birth certificate earlier this year.

"I kinda was a little upset that he didn't ask me permission to use my music," Hogan added. "But the change of heart is that I think I should be president. I know nothing about politics. I think a flat tax across the board would straighten everything out."

When told that the Hulk's idea sounds something like presidential candidate Herman Cain's "9-9-9 Plan," he responded, "Wow, yeah well he's not a real American like I am. . . . I've been around, people know me, they know everything about me, they know I'm for real, they know I know nothing about politics. I'll just make decisions on what's right or wrong."

How is it even possible to force that much stupid into such a small space? The Incredible Hulk could grunt out a more coherent and nuanced political stance while smashing things with a tank. How exactly do you go from being an Obama supporter to supporting a flat tax on Fox and Friends?

Easy! Just follow these simple steps.

1. Watch Hank Williams Jr. bring the stupid on Fox&Friends.
2. Watch a washed up, irrelevant former star like yourself receive tons of negative publicity.
3. Decide that negative publicity is better than no publicity.
4. Bring the stupid on Fox&Friends!

In Vol. 22, No. 4, the Fall 2002 issue of Free Inquiry Harlan Ellison had a piece that I will never forget titled "Terrorists". I can not locate it online for free, but I have the issue in front of me. He begins the piece

It is wickedly difficult attempting to generate a sense of gravitas when you have convinced yourself that you have nothing to say that anyone should properly need to hear.

Let me try this:
Why can't I get that portion of the human race to which I have access to understand that it has been systematically gulled, hoodwinked if you will, had enough smoke blown up its kilt to refloat the Lusitania, by disingenuous egalitarian bunkum, into believing "Everyone is Entitled to His or Her Opinion" when, in truth, everyone is only entitled to his or her informed opinion; and all the witless upchuck devoid of fact or common ratiocination is merely the chittering of intellectually-arid hominids swathed in Old Navy shmatahs.

No, I can't launch into it that way. Sounds too Elitist. Don't even dare to suggest that some folks are smarter than some other folks. That ain't The American Way. All opinions have the same weight: Herman Kahn, Debbie Reynolds, Miss Cleo, Colin Powell. Joyce Carol Oates. Adam Sandler.

And may I add, Hulk Hogan?

Skipping ahead a bit...

Everybody wants to be on television. Everybody. At the scene of a fifty-car smashup, bodies strewn everywhichway like bloody pick-up-sticks, there will invariably be some gobbet of human phlegm who, with slack jaw and extruded tongue, positions him or herself behind the stringer with the mike, who waves to the world or to Mom while squishing an ejected large colon 'neath his/her Nikes. Pedestrians in malls, passersby in markets, patrons in moviehouses, all pant and drool as their progress is impeded by a total stranger with a hand-mike, seeking their oracular wisdom. The late British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan once wrote, "I have never found, in a long experience of politics, that criticism is ever inhibited by ignorance."

And, hell, we pay politicians to have opinions.

Everybody wants to be a dancing bear on television, and everybody deserves to shoot off a big mouth on the tube, because as everybody knows....We Are All Entitled To Our Opinion.

Doesn't matter if we're dumb as a box of Hamburger Helper, as uninformed as a hemorrhoid, as surfeited with jingoism and urban myth as a foot-soldier in the White Aryan Army, by gosh we're entitled to express that bone-stick-stone opinion, endlessly, at the top of our lungs, ungrammatically, like uh totally and, gawd willin' and the crick don't rise, on telemuthuhfugginvision

With no intent to do so, nine years ago, Harlan Ellison wrote the most accurate review of Fox&Friends I have yet seen. (Apologies to Harlan Ellison for using such a small piece of a great article to make my point. I urge you to track the article down if you have never read it, the full work is definitely worth a few moments of your time.)

So who is next, Fox&Friends?

Britney Spears? Lindsey Lohen? Jeff Foxworthy? Billy Ray Cyrus? Smilin' Bob from the old Enzyte commercials?

You've got us hooked, don't leave us hanging now.

Screw expert opinions. We want ignorant opinions!

George Will Makes Sense. I'm Going To Go Lay Down Now

Here in Pennsylvania, the Republicans are attempting to change the way PA's electoral votes are awarded, with 2 going to the State-wide winner, and 1 to the winner of each congressional district. There is little doubt that this is political electionrigging of a new level. For those unfamiliar with Pennsylvania politics, the Pittsburgh and Philly areas are deep blue, while the rest of the state is called Pennsyltucky.

Let's take where I live. The last time my district had a democratic rep was in 1939. To say my district "leans right" would be the understatement of the year. While Obama carried 54.7% of the PA vote in 08, my district went to McCain 63% to 35%. And Obama personally visited my city, tried to bowl, and ate a hotdog, yet still only got 35%.

If electoral votes are awarded by district, why the fuck would a candidate ever campaign here again? Hell, I already know my half the votes I cast are only to cancel out a Tea Party member, now they want my Presidential vote to be meaningless?

And then, George Will brings the sanity....

Republicans supposedly revere the Constitution, but in its birthplace, Pennsylvania, they are contemplating a subversion of the Framers’ institutional architecture. Their ploy — partisanship masquerading as altruism about making presidential elections more “democratic” — will weaken resistance to an even worse change being suggested.

Hi, my name is Foster Disbelief, and I agree with George Will. There are word combinations I am less likely to type, granted, but damn. So far this week I've agreed with Bill O'Reilly, found AL-Queda to have the rational position in an argument, and now am quoting George Will like a fanboy. I need to go lay down.

More from Will.

The 2012 Republican candidate might lose the statewide vote but carry, say, nine of the 18 congressional districts, cutting President Obama’s yield to 11 electoral votes. But if the Republican candidate carries nine of Pennsylvania’s 18 districts and the statewide vote — Obama’s Pennsylvania poll numbers are poor — Republicans will have cost themselves nine electoral votes, which would be condign punishment.

Not since 1988 has a Republican carried Pennsylvania, a state described as Philadelphia in the east, Pittsburgh in the west and Alabama in between. Incongruous political cultures coexist in many states, so the temptation to which Pennsylvania Republicans may succumb could become a national contagion.

Look, I'm not too sure on the Electoral College. I've read arguments for and against reforming it, but it has never been an issue I've concentrated on. Too much else going on, not enough time in the day, picking your battles and so on. But I am sure that the path to reform should not be blazed by partisans with an eye to the next election.

Wonder what my rep has to say about it?

Rep. Rick Geist, R-Altoona, said the proposal would be closer to a "one man, one vote" attitude, giving more importance to each individual voter in the state.

I need to move.

Preserving the Radical, Killing a Movement *Exasperated Sigh Here*

According to Kasama, Ride the Tiger this is a liberal hit piece on the Occupy Whatever Movement

From The Daily Beast

For two-and-a-half long—and believe me, they’ve been loooong—years now, people on the left have been wondering: How on earth is it that we were hit with the greatest financial crisis since the Depression, very obviously caused by deregulation and adherence to other conservative nostra, and yet the only protest movement to arise from these ashes is one ... of the right? It has been, to put it mildly, exasperating. But now comes Occupy Wall Street. Is the cosmic score about to be evened? Maybe. But paradoxically, only if this new left protest movement embraces some crucial lessons from the Tea Party movement—and if it outgrows certain impulses from 1968 that continue to loom large in the left’s imagination.

Damn that Michael Tomasky is vicious. He's on our side and has advice, he must be a witch!

Continuing....

I want to stipulate up front that I am firmly on OWS’s side. I don’t really know who its leaders are, and I don’t especially care. I don’t know its exact goals—a subject on which the movement has been roundly, and in my view pointlessly, criticized. But it is desperately needed. It needs to succeed. And I fear it won’t.

Let's see, on the side of OWS? Check. Agrees it is desperately needed? Check? Has concerns over the movement's tactics? It's a hit-job!!!!!

No I am not exaggerating. Kasama actually calls it a "hit-job." And that isn't out of context. Back to the vicious screed:

And this is where today’s protesters need to steal a page from the Tea Party activists. I beg, plead, implore, importune: Get some spokespeople out there for the cause who are just regular Americans. Don’t send Van Jones out there to be the public face of this movement. I happen to have a high opinion of Van Jones personally. He’s dedicated his life to justice in a higher-stakes way than I have. But any movement that is led by someone who was forced to resign from the White House and who signed a 9/11 truther petition will be dismissed by the mainstream media as left-wing and elitist in three seconds. You may like that or not like that, but it’s true.

Honestly? Sounds a lot like some of what I just wrote in Occupy *Insert Anything Here* I'm a muthafucking hitman!

Seriously though, it is also rational, logical, and realistic. And very, very true.

Moving on....

The OWS movement is part of the way there. The “We Are the 99 Percent” trope is powerful. It is true. But the movement has to prove that it really is the 99 percent. It has to win middle America, and the way to win middle America is to be middle America. For all the Seattle-ish longhairs down in Zucotti Park—whom the mainstream media and the right wing will undoubtedly highlight—there are, to be sure, homemakers in Wilkes-Barre and IT guys in Dubuque who sympathize. Find them. Put them out there. Get them on cable.

Strategy?!? Propaganda? Using the media for our own ends? Oh, the shame. The shame. Excuse me as I hide my eyes...

And finally, don’t fight the man. Maybe in 1968 in Grant Park, the cops were pigs. Today, the cops aren’t pigs. They aren’t the man. They’re working stiffs, and they’re part of the 99 percent. They have underwater mortgages in Ronkonkoma and Orangeburg. Don’t make them arrest you. Make them part of the 99 percent. And don’t mess with traffic. That just pisses people off.

Seriously, out of all of Tomasky's points, this is the one that really grinds at me. I've seen the videos. They make me sick. Police beat and pepper spray protesters on 10.05.11 PEACEFUL FEMALE PROTESTORS PENNED IN THE STREET AND MACED! NYPD pepper sprays peaceful protesters Foster Disorder (or hell, Ed Brayton) won't let me forget that there are still cops that abuse their power. But he is right to a point there. Making them arrest you leads to jail cells, not success. And yeah, messing with traffic does piss people off.

On to the coup de grace of this attack piece.

An execrable legacy of ’68 is the temptation to treat politics as a realm of self-expression. But it isn’t. Politics is where you go to get things done, to change things. Changing things means persuading those people sitting at home watching on TV. The bulk of those people have been persuaded that they don’t like government. But they also know that the system is rigged against them. Get them on your side. Be them. They’ll be with you, if you only invite them along.

Seriously, that is a hit piece? What does Kasama call Fox's coverage?

Fighting against your own allies. Perfect plan for success.

/sarcasm

I humbly admit my error. Kasama calls it a "hit-job," not a "hit piece." Edited for accuracy, although I fail to find any distinction between the two.

Occupy *Insert Anything Here*

Thoughts while pondering the Occupy Pittsburgh meeting tomorrow.

It is so difficult to be rational sometimes. I am watching my teenage wet dream happen across the Nation, and I'm having flashbacks to my days as Foster Disorder and all the naivety that colored my political ideals at the time.

I watch commentators such as Ed Schultz try to make sense of this movement as it pertains to electoral politics. Thanks to Kevin Gosztola of The Dissenter (I'll get to him in a second, calm down) for the transcript.

Schultz brought Salon’s Justin Elliott and GRITtv’s Laura Flanders on during the segment to add their take. Here’s a key exchange that took place between Elliott and Schultz:

SCHULTZ: Many of the things that I heard were that of the Democratic platform. Not to overstate or simplify the frustration of people but some of the major issues are right from the Democratic platform. Are they the winners here?

ELLIOTT: Maybe. I think there’s a mix. I haven’t found many Obama supporters in the crowd. As I said, one of the chants I kept hearing is how do we cut the deficit? End the wars. Tax the rich…[cutoff]

SCHULTZ: I think they’re Obama supporters. I do. I just think they’re frustrated Obama supporters.

ELLIOTT: Perhaps, there’s a strain of Obama supporters but there’s a strain of people who are far to the left of people here and they’re very dissatisfied.

Flanders jumped in to help Schultz understand:

What I heard is people wanted change. They wanted an end to war. They got more war. They didn’t want to see drone attacks, even taking out people who were threats to the country. They didn’t want to see a little bit of healthcare reform. They needed to see profit seeking out of healthcare. So, they’re frustrated and they are creating the movement that four years ago was channeled into electoral politics. This is being channeled into a global movement. And I think that’s what’s exciting about it because we need global change.

Ed may have today confused with a time in the past where the left actually had a part in shaping politics. The Democratic Party has ran from the label "Liberal" and have consistently moved to the right over time. Granted, much of that move has been due to the absolute insanity of the right, but moving to the center to pick up sane moderate voters is still a political decision that has caused many on the left to feel abandoned.

The Right controls the media yet still trots out the "Liberal Media" hoax. And it isn't just Faux news. Remember who gave Glenn Beck his first national TV gig? Hint: It wasn't Fox. What about MSNBC? Surely they are the liberal voice? Ahem. I would love to be convinced. I think Rachael Maddow is the most progressive voice on a major network right now and a vital part of the left. But when I think of MSNBC, I can't help but also think of Michael Savage(No link. I refuse.), Don Imus(of Nappy headed ho's infamy), and Joe Scarborough. I have a feeling that the only reason MSNBC is left-leaning is it makes sense going up against Fox from a ratings perspective. Hell, even when MSNBC trots out the "liberals" sometimes you have to shake your head. From the magic wikipedia on Chris Matthews.

Liberal blogger Glenn Greenwald has called Matthews "the most vivid example of all that is wrong with political coverage," saying "[h]e’s endlessly obsessed with personality-based politics and likes to promote the strong, masculine tough guy who you can have a beer with, versus the nerdy loser. And he has a cast of characters who go on his show, like Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, who gush over the maleness of the Republican candidates and warn Democrats about how that has real appeal to American voters. Most political reporters judge candidates on the basis of the likeability factor–Matthews is just more explicit about it."[20]

The progressive media watchdog group Media Matters for America named Matthews its 2005 Misinformer of the Year, in part for statements he made in support of President George W. Bush.[21]

On January 9, 2008, the morning after Hillary Clinton's surprise victory in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, Matthews appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe program and said of Clinton,
“ I'll be brutal, the reason she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around. That's how she got to be senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win there on her merit.

[22][23]
”

The comments were criticized by such media figures as Bill O'Reilly, Joy Behar and Gloria Steinem.

When Bill O'fuckingReilly has the moral high ground, you are obviously fucked.

The point is that I don't trust anyone in the media to cover this without an eye towards promoting their own agenda. When Shultz claims the protestors as "democrats" or "Obama supporters" he is ignoring the fact that the Democratic Party abandoned these people in their rush to the center and now are stuck trying to court people who just do not trust them. How many times does the Democratic Party get to lie to us? How many times are we going to let them do it? Do not get me wrong here. I know the conservative right has gone off the deep end. I know rational Conservatives who are disgusted at the culture of Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, Geller, and the Palin/Bachmann/O'Donnell Overdrive. The Republicans have lost control of their own party, while ours abandons its own platform to get elected.

Let's just look at Obama. I make no excuses for the fact that, barring a revolution, I will be working on his campaign in 2012 and holding my nose while voting for him. Why? Because the fear of what the Republicans/Tea Party could do if in power scares the living shit out of me. If that makes me an "Obama Supporter" then I guess I am guilty. Guilty, but not blind.

Obama Campaign Promise: Develop an alternative to President Bush's Military Commissions Act on handling detainees. Result?BROKEN

Obama Campaign Promise: Reform the Patriot Act. Result? Obama seeks longer PATRIOT Act extension than Republicans Er..BROKEN

Obama Campaign Promise: Urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws. Result? BROKEN

Obama Campaign Promise: Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials. Result? BROKEN

Obama Campaign Promise: To respect State's Medical Marijuana Laws, and bring sanity to the nations drug policy. Result? Liar, Liar, LIAR! 3 Liars = BROKEN

I know, I know. Obama is dealing with one of the most obstructionist Congresses since Civil War days. How can he get anything passed if Congress says "NO!" to every idea he has? Note, please; that is why I picked examples that have nothing to do with Congress.

And don't get me started on AL-Awlaki.

So now we have a political party reaping everything they have sown. I must admit, watching the Democrats try to figure out what to do with this movement of the left amuses me to no end.

But I don't need multiple personality disorder to also be saddened.

Back to Kevin Gosztola of The Dissenter (Ok, it was more than a second but I told you I'd come back to him.)

What should the Occupy Wall Street organizers do? They should continue on the path they were on prior to all the labor and Democratic Party support. They should put the movement first and not bow to any Democratic Party or liberal organization operatives who seek to channel the movement into electoral politics or compel the movement to lower its sights.

To borrow a Streetlight Manifesto lyric, "I'm not going to play if there ain't no way I'll win!" An end to electoral politics would require what exactly? The overthrow of the United States Federal Government? Constitutional Amendment? Good luck with that.

Look, I'm right there with you. The system NEEDS to change. If not broken, the two party system is definitely damaged. But part of this is our fault. Where were we as the word "Liberal" was demonized by the media and abandoned by the Democrats? As the mainstream media slandered the left as weak on terror, as taxandspenders, as anti-military, as anti-family, as anti-christian, as anti-white? Where was I? Fair question. I was shooting fucking heroin. I claim no innocence here. But even shooting dope, I kept informed, I read books, papers, journals, blogs and the like from all political persuasions. Apologies for quoting Streetlight again, but...

And I won't claim to believe the things I read
Black books or agenda magazine
I'd rather see in shades of gray

We, the people of the left, the people of the Occupy Whatever movement, we are NOT the 99%. We are not the 98%. We may feel that we represent the 99% or 98%, but a good portion of that 99% thinks we are dirty lazy hippies who need to go home, take a shower, and quit blocking the road. If you believe that we could ever actually BE the 99%, you are living in a dreamworld that I would really like to visit. Look. I would love to, in the words of The Broadways, "build a world where smiles and love are worth more than money," but reality check time. We live in a nation where millions of people vote against their own economic interests to save a fetus. Where ignorance is considered a positive by a large portion of the electorate. Where fucking Dominionism is invading the mainstream. Where a fraudulent study and Jenny McCarthy's mommy instincts can cause a fucking measles outbreak and KILL children.

Even if all of our desires are in the best interest of the 99%, a large portion of that will never identify with us. Are you willing to tell that feminist marching beside you to shelve reproductive choice as an issue for the "greater good." Are you going to tell the GLBT protesters to hold back on equal marriage rights until after the revolution? To tell the atheists to just shut up so we can get more Christian support? To tell Muslim friends that they should go away, because they scare too many middle americans? I'm not.

How is Fox covering this anyway? Remember, they are the most trusted name in news.

From Fox, who doesn't even believe their own tagline, comes the following:

The protest began with no stated goals, no public spokespeople and many of the most ridiculous attendees you could imagine – socialists, Code Pinkers, anarchists and more. (Anarchists are notoriously poor organizers.) Their slogans (they have many) include: “We are the 99 percent” and “This is what democracy looks like.”

First off, no they are not the 99 percent. They are a very tiny piece of it, many of whom hate capitalism and want to see it overturned. You know, that system that helped make this country great and provided the wealth they now loathe. That’s why a bunch of the protesters repeatedly interrupted an art auction at Sotheby’s. It’s even easier to mock the other slogan as “This is what democracy smells like,” or as one person on Twitter said, “This is what hypocrisy looks like.”

That’s the kind of criticism they bring on themselves. The group’s live video feed, which is often not live, is headlined “Global Revolution.” They can’t use megaphones (illegal), so they embrace “the people’s microphone” where the crowd repeats each line a speaker says. It brings to mind laughable socialism such as actor John Candy in “Volunteers” discussing “the people’s truck” filled with “the people’s gas.” Annie Day, one of the arrested protesters, told The New York Times her profession: “I’m a revolutionary.” The headline of their protest paper, The Occupied Wall Street Journal, is “THE REVOLUTION BEGINS AT HOME.”

Not exactly how to sell a movement to ordinary, taxpaying Americans, but demonstrators don’t really care. Remember, this is a global effort. Many protesters aren’t even American or despise American exceptionalism. But they have the force of propaganda on their side to push a typical liberal agenda and the media are throwing support behind them as well.

“A freelance reporter for The New York Times, Natasha Lennard, was among those arrested,” wrote the Times. Unsurprisingly, the police can’t tell Times reporters apart from radical leftists, a problem Americans have been grappling with for years.

Bolds are mine. FD

Excuse me as I go vomit while realizing how large a percentage of this Nation is getting their news from this propaganda machine.

Back to Kevin Gosztola once again. Just as an aside, the only reason I'm picking on Kevin here is because I agree with a lot of what he says. You don't have to be enemies to disagree on issues.

It should work to maintain a level of discipline and make sure it establishes what it is not. It should continue to aim for the impossible and remember that they have earned their power because they have occupied the park and stood their ground in the face of a media blackout, police brutality and contemptuous criticisms.

Establish what it is not? How about establishing what it is? Every single sign that mentions the Socialist Party, the Workers World Party, or some form of anti-Capitalism is a piece of propaganda for the other side. The word "Socialist" killed national healthcare, and now we think it can win the people to our causes? We have the nations attention. It's time for more concrete demands and less scaring the fuck out of middle America. Aiming for the impossible is fine, as long as you are willing to only hit the possible. Capitalism isn't going anywhere. Socialism is a dead issue in this Country at the moment. But we scare the fuck out of the Democratic Party, because they need our votes. This system of government has worked before, and it can work again. Yeah, it's broken, but are we going to chase ideologically pure pipe dreams or actually cause some change?

*Sigh* The truth? If this would have happened in 1995 or so I would have been there with a Circle A shirt waving around The Communist Manifesto. Of course, in 1995 I also believed in ghosts, psychics, fairies, witchcraft, Bigfoot, homeopathy, and shamanistic healing. Make of that what you will.

As for "remember that they have earned their power because they have occupied the park and stood their ground in the face of a media blackout, police brutality and contemptuous criticisms," I honestly can't help but laughing. Media Blackout? Perhaps at first. Now this is the story of the year. Police Brutality? No argument from me there, although if you think that was brutal, wait. Contemptuous Criticisms? You haven't even warmed up the republican noise machine yet.

If the stand you want to make is truly to tear the system down, I wish you the best. My heart goes with you, and I will shed tears when the ones with the guns, the prisons and the money either kill you, jail you, or send you home with a note to stay the fuck away. The revolution will be televised; on their terms. The most radical amongst us will be trotted out to show the public how lucky they are that the government cracked down, and the common man will be disappeared from the screen.

Last bit from Kevin Gosztola:

they need to make clear this is not about building a better Democratic Party. This is about the war on poor, working class and middle class Americans, the constant attacks on unions and how Americans are begin to have influence over their government so the assaults on poor and working Americans come to an end.

I've been wrong before, I was a junkie for the love of FSM, and as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow (or more accurately, as sure as the earth will rotate us back into sunlight), I will be wrong again. I see great things in this movement, I believe it is the most important story going on today, and I feel that it can cause great change. I also think it could just as likely overstep the possible and crash like Prometheus. Yes, this is about the war on the underclasses. Yes, it is about ending the war against working Americans. Once we have public opinion on our side, we will be unstoppable!

Call me when the Tea Party calls to sit down, break bread, and rationally discuss the issues. Or just email me. It will take a few for me to get back to you, because I will be in church since 2 plus 2 now equals 5 and I have a lot of explaining to do.

I want change. Not Barack Obama "Change!", but real change. This Nation was founded out of the Enlightenment by imperfect men who through the Constitution and the Bill of Rights sought to limit the effect of their imperfection on the people and the Nation. Yes, they made mistakes but that doesn't change how remarkable our founding documents were then and still are today. We the People have given the government too much power over us, or sat back while the power was taken. We let the monied interests takeover politics as we watched blue-filtered light from our window to the outside. How many of us gave a fucking damn when we were employed? Where were we when Florida was stolen? When Clinton fucked us with NAFTA? Were we all playing video games as the Republicans made intelligence, caring, rationality and knowledge handicaps in politics? Perhaps we weren't even born when the Right started playing us against each other, through racism, sexism, homophobia, religious bigotry and fear, but we were alive while they continued doing it, and we let it happen. You show up now, after 40 years of the country being dragged to the right, and think the system is going to crumble because you finally woke up?

Do not get me wrong. Do not misinterpret what I am saying here. I am glad you are now awake. Fuck, I'm ecstatic! Welcome back to the discussion. We NEED you! Solidarity! Where the fuck have you been since the last G-8 or WTO summit? But this is a long term fight we have picked. To win, we need the hearts and the minds of a majority of Americans. That is not going to happen over night, and it is not going to happen just from protests. The system exists. No, it isn't fair. But the system does give us one advantage; the power to swing elections and the power to hold those we elect accountable for their actions once in office. We've been ignored for far too long by the Democratic Party. It is time to pull the party back to the left, and to pull the whole political debate back towards the center. We need to reach out and educate those who we know, because the media's propaganda isn't going away, and our beliefs will be slandered to no end. Yes, I know. This path will not get us everything that we want. No one gets everything that they want. But harnessing our power towards causing constant change with an eye toward the future just seems a better choice than wasting it on a pipe dream.

We can reform the system. It will take years, dedication, compromise, and hard work. When the economy improves, it will take effort to stop people from fading back asleep. Nothing will come easy. Nothing good ever does.

I will end with the words of Naomi Klein

We all know, or at least sense, that the world is upside down: we act as if there is no end to what is actually finite—fossil fuels and the atmospheric space to absorb their emissions. And we act as if there are strict and immovable limits to what is actually bountiful—the financial resources to build the kind of society we need.

The task of our time is to turn this around: to challenge this false scarcity. To insist that we can afford to build a decent, inclusive society—while at the same time, respect the real limits to what the earth can take.

What climate change means is that we have to do this on a deadline. This time our movement cannot get distracted, divided, burned out or swept away by events. This time we have to succeed. And I’m not talking about regulating the banks and increasing taxes on the rich, though that’s important.

I am talking about changing the underlying values that govern our society. That is hard to fit into a single media-friendly demand, and it’s also hard to figure out how to do it. But it is no less urgent for being difficult.

That is what I see happening in this square. In the way you are feeding each other, keeping each other warm, sharing information freely and proving health care, meditation classes and empowerment training. My favorite sign here says, “I care about you.” In a culture that trains people to avoid each other’s gaze, to say, “Let them die,” that is a deeply radical statement.

If we waste this chance, how long til the next? And will it already be too late?

Flame away.

Insert Rambling Manifesto Here!

I get into arguments frequently with others who either once were "punk" or who still claim the label. The arguments that don't involve me laughing hysterically at "anarchism" or "communism" as valid options general boil down to one issue. They say the system is broken and needs to be brought down. I say the system isn't going anywhere, and as dysfunctional as it may be, change can happen if the effort is made. There are times that I wonder if I am right, but the alternative is unthinkable to me. There is not going to be a workers revolution. Violent revolt is a one way ticket to the ever growing corrections industry. Rioting may be a way to a free TV, but it is not a legitimate road to political change. I wore the Circle A in my youth. I've read the Communist Manifesto and marveled at Marx's words. I've had my fantasies of a non-violent revolution making this a country for the common man.

And then I both woke and grew the fuck up.

Any change must come from within the system and it won't be over night. As much as I admire many of the protesters camping out in NYC, Wall Street isn't going to decide "Hey, these kids are serious, let's put liberals in power!" What those protesters are doing is important, but change is going to have to come over years if not decades.

We have the opinion of the public on our side. The right has the media, the money, and the sound bytes. Our views take thought. They do not fit in a short attention span society that feeds on TV news. It's easy to say somebody hates God, or is un-American, or blames America, or is a socialist. It is hard to explain the other side, it takes time, the views are more nuanced. Education and information are both vital in our fight, yet so many I know who once cared live for nothing but day to day comfort and entertainment. And how can I blame them? While the wheels of power turn, the under class struggles to eat. The very people who should care the most have more important things to worry about; their survival.

*sigh*

Yeah, I'm ranting. But it's stopping my legs from crawling, so oh well. I make no claims to be anything more than I am. A 36 year old citizen of the United States who has nightmares of what change I could have caused, if I wouldn't have chosen the needle instead.

When I read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, other than not seeing all the references to God conservatives claim are there, what I see is a document that makes me proud of where I live. I see a result of the Enlightenment, written by imperfect men with the idea of a secular society where every citizen is not equal, yet has equal opportunity. Yes, there is racism and sexism as well, but it is a document from the 18th century and yet it holds up remarkably well today. Yet when I look at the current state of the United States, well, that is when I start researching other countries immigration requirements. I see a nation that is unequaled in the west in the separation between the haves and the have-nots. I see a nation that sends the youth of the middle and under classes off to die without any sacrifice asked from those with money and power. I see a nation that cuts services to the poorest while cutting taxes on the richest. And I see a nation of middle and under class citizens who have been duped by the rich. The term liberal, although almost every liberal political goal enjoys majority support, is a one way ticket out of the national conversation. One party, using tactics of division, breaks those with common economic interests apart with religion, with race, with sex, with homophobia, with fear. The other party is center right. Probably pretty close to where Republicans would be if opinions were based on nothing but issues that matter. There is no credible voice of the left in American politics. Liberals themselves fear the label. And although barriers of race, sex and sexuality will fall with time, no matter how hard people fight against it, progress will not solve all our problems.

The time to take action was years ago. I am late. So are many others. What can we do now?

To be honest, I do not know. I have ideas, and I am willing to work, but I do not know if it is too late already. But I will never give up.

Random Ideas:

1. The left must either reclaim the word "liberal," or just toss the damn thing away. The conservative controlled media has demonized the word. Watch as Democrats cower from the label. I love the label, as I love the Enlightenment that created it, but the word may have been lost. Reclaiming it will be difficult, and I am not sure if it is worth it.

2. No matter what your political beliefs, we must all tell our elected officials of either party, to put an end to the political gerrymandering of congressional districts. It is not right when the left does it, it is not right when the right does it. Changing district boundaries for political gain should be criminal.

3. We must stop allowing our government to disenfranchise citizens of their right to vote. From *sigh* Wikipedia....

the Voting Rights Act and three constitutional amendments that prevent discrimination in granting the franchise have established in United States Supreme Court jurisprudence that there is a "fundamental right" in the franchise, even though voting remains a state-granted privilege. However, states are given considerable leeway when it comes to this "fundamental right".

What is the considerable leeway given? Disenfranchising ex-felons who have paid their debt to society? Yep. Requiring a government issued photo ID card? Even though large numbers of citizens in some states do not have them, yep, perfectly legal. The leeway also includes restrictions on election day Voter Registration, as well as limited early voting periods, amongst other strategies.

Want to know a secret? There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Yet that is what the (normally) republican controlled state governments use as an excuse to limit registration, require id cards, and cut down on early voting. (In case you were wondering, yes, those who do not have id cards primarily vote democrat. Same with early voters, ex-felons, and those who register on election day. What a coincidence!)

LAW.com

ACLU Petition

4. End the failed War on American Citizens. Prohibition did not work in the 20's, why would anyone think it would work now? How many lives are we going to ruin? How much money are we going to lose to the cartels? How much are we going to spend on law enforcement that does nothing to slow the abuse? Could it be it is time for an education and treatment based approach, while taxing the proceeds of the sale of something the consumers want.

I have read articles by those who favor marijuana legalization that are as coocoo-for-cocao-puffs as anything Sarah Palin could come up with. No, it is not going to solve all of our economic problems. It won't erase the deficit. And I will scream the next time I hear a stoner claim he wants it legalized "for the people that need it as medicine, man."

But the war on drugs is an endless money pit. And yet, no matter how much money we throw down that hole, drug gang related violence increases, corruption runs rampant(forfeiture laws, anyone?), an entire generation of African American men rot in jail in spite of less involvement in drugs than whites, crimes related to drugs soar, and the numbers of users stays just about the same over time.

Yeah, I know. Just what you'd expect an ex-junkie to say, right? Then get it from Law Enforcement. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

We believe that drug prohibition is the true cause of much of the social and personal damage that has historically been attributed to drug use. It is prohibition that makes marijuana worth more than gold, and heroin worth more than uranium – while giving criminals a monopoly over their supply. Driven by the huge profits from this monopoly, criminal gangs bribe and kill each other, law enforcers, and children. Their trade is unregulated and they are, therefore, beyond our control.

History has shown that drug prohibition reduces neither use nor abuse. After a rapist is arrested, there are fewer rapes. After a drug dealer is arrested, however, neither the supply nor the demand for drugs is seriously changed. The arrest merely creates a job opening for an endless stream of drug entrepreneurs who will take huge risks for the sake of the enormous profits created by prohibition. Prohibition costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars every year, yet 40 years and some 40 million arrests later, drugs are cheaper, more potent and far more widely used than at the beginning of this futile crusade.

We believe that by eliminating prohibition of all drugs for adults and establishing appropriate regulation and standards for distribution and use, law enforcement could focus more on crimes of violence, such as rape, aggravated assault, child abuse and murder, making our communities much safer. We believe that sending parents to prison for non-violent personal drug use destroys families. We believe that in a regulated and controlled environment, drugs will be safer for adult use and less accessible to our children. And we believe that by placing drug abuse in the hands of medical professionals instead of the criminal justice system, we will reduce rates of addiction and overdose deaths.

There. Happy now? That is from a cop, not an ex-junkie.

5. We must understand that some compromises must be made. There is a lesson to be learned from the crawling, blind outer god the Republicans have conjured and named the Tea Party. As the Republicans move farther to the right and commit to the Tea Party's insanity driven politics, they move farther away from electability. The average American, no matter what they want you to believe, agrees with us in a large part. Look at the polling data if you don't believe me. If you are feeling lazy, ask and I'll dig it up. That being said, they don't agree with us on everything. We must be prepared to not win every battle. As surprising as this may sound, with the media filled with the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity, there are conservatives with well reasoned, rational, logic based stances on the issues. I'm not looking for a leftist utopia. Hell, to start, I'd be happy with the return of the two party democracy. Neither side is going to win the hearts and votes of everyone. I am not suggesting that we sell out our principles, only that we accept reality. That leftist utopia in your dreams is not a possibility in the United States. That leftist utopia probably isn't a possibility anywhere but fantasyland. But equal rights, health care, more equal opportunity for all, and less economic stratification are all possible.

6. We must stop destroying ourselves. I am the last person who has any right to tell someone not to use drugs, but believe me. Be smart. Get educated. In school, they lied to me about the dangers of every single drug until they got to heroin, and then they decided to mix in some truth. I know the allure of the needle, of the escape, of the rush that takes all of your problems away until the demon needs the next fix. I have also watched too many great minds waste away, strung out, and too many kindred souls turn blue and stop breathing. I've seen myself turn a career and a 3.9gpa into 14 wasted years and the mess I now call my life. I know what that felony means on your record, and I've seen hundreds of peers saddled with one just in my small city. I'm not going to tell anyone to draw an "x" on their hand. I have no right. But educate yourself. Know what you are putting in your body, and for fucks sakes, do not let the system have you.

Point six is more than just drugs. Our society makes it too easy to turn on and drop out without intoxicants. Television, pop music, movies, video games, the internet; each can be a force for good, and each can also be an opiate of the masses. We must stay involved and we must stay educated. We must not let race, sex, creed, or sexuality fragment us. We must forget whatever naive ideas look good on a t-shirt, and embrace rationality.

7. Perhaps the most important point in this rambling 7 point list. We must get involved, and we must educate our peers. The Right has money, desire, belief, and simple talking points that can fit on a bumper sticker. We have a discouraged base, a lack of funds, politicians that run to the right away from our beliefs, and intelligent, rational stands on the issues that do not fit into the sound byte culture of modern media. Insert your favorite overwhelming underdog sports analogy here. We have at least two things on our side. We are right, and the majority of the nation, once the issues are removed from the sound byte culture, agree with us. We will never get a fair hearing in the major media until we start changing things. But we have blogs, we have facebook, we have youtube, we have the letters to the editor, and we have brilliant minds who need to get involved. When confronted with the negative stereotypes forced on us, we need to speak up, we need to educate. We're soft on terror? 90% of liberals supported military action against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. We're not soft on terror, we just don't agree with war under false pretenses, and we're not too fond of torture. We hate God? No, we believe in the Wall of Separation as Jefferson and Madison intended. The majority of our citizens may be some denomination of Christian, but we are specifically not a Christian Nation. The Constitution and Bill of Rights protects the minority from oppression by the majority. We blame America? No, we understand that our foreign policy has consequences, and jingoistic belief that whatever we do is right is counterproductive to relations with other nations. When we torture enemy combatants, that gives other nations implicit consent to torture our soldiers. When we engage in Realpolitik overthrows of other nations governments, it does not endear us to that nations citizens. When we start wars under false pretenses, that leads to increased threats to our national security, and increased recruitment of terrorists. There is no longer a Cold War. The threat facing the west is no longer Mutually Assured Destruction with the USSR. We must understand the threats of today, join with our allies to face them, and stop thinking that whatever choice our leaders make is right just because we are the USA.

We can not get away with just shouting out a slogan. We must know the issues, and be prepared to defend and explain our stances at the grass roots level. Those of us who can must vote, not just in presidential years, but every year. Those of us who can must run for local office. Conservatives have taken over school board after school board, we must be represented also. The mainstream media has little use for liberal views. We must get our voices heard. Write letters, call your congressperson, work on a campaign, volunteer, drag the "moderate" position back to the center, as the conservatives have pushed it to the right in the last 30 years.

Education means more than just learning the political issues. We must also learn to confront pseudoscience, conspiracy thinking, dogmatic superstition and the like no matter which side of the political spectrum it comes from. It pains me as much to see those on the left embrace the anti-vaccination movement as it does when the right embraces creationism. 9/11 was not an inside job, the Illuminati is not controlling all governments, the Bilderbergers do not control the world economy, vaccines do not cause autism, and the world is not six thousand fucking years old. We live in the 21st century, with laptop computers, smart phones that keep us constantly connected, and easy travel to any spot on the planet. No matter your views on religion or spirituality, we live in a world best explained through the lens of material naturalism. Science works. It doesn't matter if you like it or not, this magic box I am currently typing this on says it does, as does the MRI machine at the local hospital, the eradication of small pox and almost of polio from the Earth, the Apollo Program, your cell phone and countless other examples. (Yes, the Apollo Program. Don't be the creepy moon landing denier guy. Seriously. Don't be that guy.) If a method comes along that explains the evidence better in the future, then we can talk again on the issue. Until then, get a grip. Base your opinions on evidence, and not evidence from only biased sources. Just because the HuffPo or Faux News says something is true does not make it so. Remember the old line: Keep an open mind, but not so open that it falls out. Question everything I say. Follow the evidence yourself.

And with that last bit, gentle reader, I have hit 70 hours with no sleep. My bed, and hopefully the dreaming are calling. If you have made it to the end, then you get a gold star and my gratitude. This manifesto has no bombs attached. It is a program of education and action, change from with in the system that exists with our consent. Violence and hate are not the tools we choose. Unity, knowledge, evidence, desire and love are much stronger.

Will anything change? Is it already too late? There is no such thing as psychics, so I am sorry, but I do not know. What I do know is that I am no longer willing to do nothing.

Change requires action. Never forget that.

And never forget these words. "We the People...."



Note: My desire for this blog is not to have any more rambling manifestos. Posts like this one will not be common here, although the ideas represented within will be. I have seen too many self-destruct, fall victim to conspiracy-driven or pseudo-scientific thinking, or just tune out and fade away. That is a vital part of why I am writing this blog, so much needed to be said. If you just care about the atheism and skepticism, you'll get your fix in the morning. Over the next week I will also delve deeper into the war on drugs, and its effect on both my life and the lives of others. The beginning stages of a blog, before an audience is secured, gives much room for exploration and experimentation. Methadone has slowed my mind for too long. As it drains, my mind sharpens. It has been years since I have felt the demon driving me to write. I almost forgot what it felt like to be honest. So far, I am happy with nothing I have posted here except for a line or two here and there, yet every word written is vital to my growth. I have no idea if blogging is the format for my message. I only know that I have wasted far too much of my life already to waste another day.

~Foster Disbelief

Apologies for Off Day; Have I Mentioned Withdrawal Sucks?

Let us see. Two, carry the one, divide by the sum of the....

Yep, Just hit 67 hours without sleep.

Methadone maintenance has served me well. I would have much rather taken a longer taper instead of the 10 day "um, you lost medical assistance, sorry" taper program I received, but the time had come to toss the crutch away. It actually makes a decent point in the current debate over health care in the United States. As a single male with only "drug dependance" as a medical issue, I would lose my government cheese medical benefits on the day I became employed. If I could muster up a psych diagnoses, I would be eligible for subsidized health insurance under the Medical Assistance for Disabled Workers program in my state, but alas, I am not a welfare fraud and not about to lie to a doctor about how depressed I am.

Methadone treatment, while I was employed, cost me 500$ a month. Roughly half of my take home, depending on tips of course. That is a lot less than an opiate addiction costs, I know. Believe me, I know, but still. I was referred to the clinic by one Doctor, who was backed up by both my PCP and a third opinion I decided to get. The clinic itself called me "a classic case of exactly who methadone is for. You are the client type we want to have here." I have forms upon forms stating that methadone is a "Life and Health Sustaining Medication" for me, yet once the failing economy touched me and I became unemployed, I went from 80mg a day to 0 in ten days.

Yes, I know. There are ways I could have played the system, but the reason I finally went on methadone was to stop living that life. It did its job, and no matter the discomfort I feel now, I was ready to get off the drug.

I did learn one very important lesson however; Don't get sick. As a single male, I am a persona non grata to government assistance. No matter the income, as soon as I am employed I am ineligible for every program. Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to live on the dole. Government cheese doesn't fuel my appetite. But how are the poor, the underclass, hell, the middle class without health insurance supposed to better their lives, to be productive, when one sustained illness can force bankruptcy? If I want to get an annual physical, which I should start doing as I am not getting any younger, then that money has to come out of either my food budget or my college fund. At least that I can plan for, what happens if I need an antibiotic? There goes at least one month of saving. FSM forbid I have an accident, or a long term illness, or need surgery. I have struggled for years to work on the debt I have without declaring bankruptcy. I have made many mistakes in my life, but I have taken responsibility for them and am trying to turn things around. I will have chronic health problems for the rest of my life, and it scares me that no matter what choices I make from now on, it's up to the roll of the dice whether I succeed or end up on disability. Cancer, heart disease, COPD, diabetes, high blood pressure, and strokes all run in my family, and I haven't even mentioned any of the health problems I do have. What kind of a modern society makes health care a privilege, not a right?

For any one ready to pounce, ready to point out the obvious fact that I made my choices and now I am reaping what I have sown, fine. What about the countless uninsured children who are only guilty of being born poor? What of those struggling to escape poverty who are law abiding citizens? When I was 6 my appendix almost burst. If my parents wouldn't have had insurance, they could have been wiped out. When I was 23 I broke both of me feet in an accident. One of the benefits I had at the time was health insurance. I paid nothing for my treatment, and although I was only supposed to get 40 to 60% usage back, due to the quality of care I received I have over 95% of the usage I had before the accident. Although I have pain management issues, I can still go backpacking and hiking thanks to health insurance. Accidents happen to everyone, the drug addict and the teetotaler, the rich and the poor, the young and the old.

Health care is a right. It isn't socialism. You are being played by those who control the talking points.