The Death of Enthusiasm

Me: So Karl, What do you think about the health care bill that passed the house and squeaked by the senate on Christmas eve?

KM: KARL MALONE DOND NEEDS NO HEALF CARE. KARL MALONE STILL HAS GOT SIX-PACK ABS. KARL MALONE’S SUPER AB WORKOUT VIDEOS DOND LIE.

Me: OK, I get that you might not need health care because you’re super wealthy, but don’t you think something needs to be done? The number of uninsured Americans is growing every year, and our current system is clearly at the mercy of unscrupulous and/or wrongheaded healthcare industry lobbyists.

KM: KARL MALONE OWN MANY BUSINESSES, AN HE TAKE CARE OF HIS WORKERS WIF FREE WORKOUT VIDEOS. THAT WAY, THEY GOT SIX-PACK ABS TOO. THE GOVEMENT CAND GIVE EVRYONE HEALF CARE WHO WAN IT. THAT CALLED COMMIENISM.

Me: Actually, universal health care would be no more socialist than half the government programs that we’ve had in place for decades like social security, our current tax code, or our education system (where the government uses taxes to provide a universal education for all citizens). All this socialism hysteria is just conservative fear mongers trying to rile people up. The real question is, can we provide adequate care without putting too much of a strain on the already fragile economy? How do we decide what needs to be done to keep the economic recovery going, and what can be spent to fix our healthcare system?

KM: YOU RIGHT CHASE, THE ECONMY IS PURDY BAD RIGHT NOW. KARL MALONE CAIND SELL AS MANY WOROUT VIDEOS AS HE USED TO. OBAMA DOND CARE ABOUT KARL MALONE PEOPEL.

Me: Well, I think Obama really cares about those working poor who can’t just “pull themselves up by their bootstraps,” to use a favorite phrase of the right wing. The good part of the current proposal is that it would do the following:

* forces the uninsured to obtain insurance.
* forces insurers to accept those with preexisting conditions.
* will reduce Medicare spending, purportedly by cuts, of about 500 billion dollars.

Maybe a plan closer to the now defunct Healthy Americans Act sponsored by Bob Bennett and Ron Wyden would have been better, but at this point we have to wait for the discrepancies to be hammered out between the house and senate versions to see what it actually looks like.

Of course when Bennett cooperated with one of his fellow senators for the good of the country, his own party turned on him and aired attack ads here in Utah blasting him for “working with a liberal Democrat.” Great job Republicans, you’re right! What we need is more partisan bickering so nothing ever gets done. How DARE a senator try to sponsor a bill with a LIBERAL DEMOCRAT! What’s next, LIBERAL DEMOCRATS serving on congressional committees along with CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS? People of differing viewpoints coming together to create a satisfactory compromise? Black is white, up is down! What has the world come to?!

KM: KARL MALONE DOND UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU SAID. HOWEVR, KARL WOULD LIKE TO INVITE EVRYONE OUT TO THE GRAN OPENING OF KARL MALONE’S WORKOUT VIDEO STORE. ALL KARL MALONE VIDOES ARE ON SALE FOR ONLY TWENTY DOLLARS EACH.

Me: Thanks for talking with me Karl, it was a very interesting conversation.

KM: NO, THE THANKS IS TO YOU CHASE. AND KARL MALONE SORRY ABOUT TOTALLY CHOKING IN THE ’97 FINALS.

Me: Apology not accepted, Karl.

Labels: Karl Malone, politics

Here's the problem with people who get upset about "big government" such as those Fox News sponsored tea-baggers:

The government spends most of its money on three programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. These are very popular and very useful programs politicians touch at their peril.

"Small government" politicians know that to actually shrink the government would mean cutting one of the three major entitlement programs. They also know they'd be (rightly) ridden out on a rail for doing so. So they talk vaguely about "waste" or "pork barrel spending" when pressed for details of their budget proposals. I've never seen anyone genuinely concerned about the size of government honestly put forward proposals that would really shrink it. In general, small government rhetoric is sophistry designed to inflame people's prejudices, not a philosophy of governance.

If all these so called conservatives were really serious about less government they would man up and become Libertarians instead of having supported Bush with his "tax cuts" that benefited the wealthiest .05% of the population.

Labels: politics

I try to stay away from posting anything political on here, not because I'm afraid of offending anyone, but because I just don't want to have to explain myself. The problem with studying political science is that since you become accustomed to taking a macro view of every issue or institution, you are immediately suspicious of anyone who is ready to identify themselves as a "hardcore" anything.

As soon as I know someone is an avid Republican or Democrat, I can pretty much guarantee that they will have nothing interesting (to me) to say about politics. I already know their basic views on most issues and I can then predictably chart the path that the conversation will take.

This is also the problem I have with political bumper stickers. If you want to be reduced to a walking (or more specifically, driving) stereotype, go ahead and plaster political bumper stickers all over your car. It actually makes things easier for me. For example, look at this truck:



All he needs is a sticker that says, "I pretend that my racist and xenophobic beliefs are actually political viewpoints" or maybe, "If I had a chance I would shoot an Arab in the head with a huge gun and not feel bad about it."

Unfortunately, it's not just right wing nut jobs that do this. Check out this Prius:



This guy might as well put one on there that says, "I have a bag of weed in my glove box" or "Even my poop is carbon neutral."

My point is: don't do this. I could go on about other terrible car stickers (peeing Calvin, among others) but I think you get the point.

Labels: judgement, politics

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."-George Washington

I guess most of you know that I am one of "those guys" who study political science. It's not my major (gracias a dios!) but I do take a lot of classes since it is my minor now. I often find myself thinking about the situation our country is in, and it makes me feel like I'm going to die.

We are now right in the middle of the election process for 2008, and since I am not and adherent to any particular party, the sheer uselessness of the whole thing makes me sick. If you believe in Elite Theory as many political scientists do, elections are nothing more than elaborate spectacles designed to trick the unprivileged masses into thinking they have some measure of control over their government.

I like to think of individual candidates like consumer products. Some people like sugary cereals(Obama) and some like grape nuts(McCain). The problem is, you can't just go into the supermarket and pick up one item. No sir, you either have to go to the Republican supermarket or the Democratic Supermarket. (BEGIN EXTENDED METAPHOR..)

The Republican Supermarket looks a lot like Wal-Mart and has good low prices and Christian themed calendars near the checkout. But, there isn't a very big selection and all the products look like they are tailored towards white males. There is no ethnic food section, and hardly any soul food (and most people consider the soul food they do have, called "Clarence Thomas" not really soul food anyways). Poor single mothers don't like to shop here since they tend to get ignored by the staff. Also, at irrational times the manager of the supermarket likes to launch poorly planned offensive military strikes.

On the other hand, the Democratic Supermarket looks kind of like Wild Oats, and you will likely see a few mountain bikes parked outside. The Democratic Supermarket is proud of it's wide selection of products and ethnic foods. They make sure the poor single mothers are helped first and are likely to feel an enormous amount of liberal guilt if this does not happen. Unfortunately, all the produce is organic, and as such is completely filled with worms and bugs. Also, the checkout line is extremely slow and the prices are much, much higher than the Republican Supermarket.

Wouldn't it be great if you could pick a few items from each store? Sorry, you have to pick one store and ALWAYS shop there. (At least as far a presidential elections are concerned. Sorry, it's called the electoral college.)

I really wish there was some sort of political "string theory" that could combine all the various theories floating around that attempt to explain political activity. (These such as the afore-mentioned Elite Theory are all depressing and usually determine that the average voter has no sway whatsoever in key policies.)

I guess until then I'll have to be one of those people who wanted to make a difference, only to see the curtain lifted and then be crushed by the reality that we can't really make any difference at all. So, here's to voting for the lesser of two evils!

Labels: politics, rants