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What Are They Teaching?
(September 14, 2010) Preventative disclosure - I
am registered No Party Affiliation (NPA and Proud!) in Florida
and have been for some time - as in decades. As such, I get calls
from both sides seeking to sway me to one or the other. Failing
that, they at least want some money. I have not given a dime
to either party for quite some time and do not intend to fuel
their hate and anger machines now.
As the election draws closer, the number of fund raising calls
from both sides keeps increasing. And the alarmist noises being
made by those fund raisers gets more alarming. This week I got
a call that set me to wondering just what these callers have
been taught.
This one came from the Republican Senate Campaign Committee.
It could just as easily been the Democrats. Both sides are the
same. It went something like this (I am not making this up):
Caller: Hi. I am calling on behalf of the Republican Senate
Committee. In November, Americans head to the polls to vote in
the most important election in American history. We need to elect
more Republican Senators to help get rid of Nancy Pelosi.
Me: Umm. You do know that Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House
and 100 Republican Senators could not remove her.
Caller: Right. That is why we need to elect more Republican
Senators.
Me: And you do know that Senators have no voice in who is
Speaker of the House, right?
Caller: Yes. Because the Democratic majority....
Me: Not to be rude, but do you understand how Congress is
structured? I mean you do know that the House of Representatives
elects the Speaker and the Senate has no say at all.
Caller: Yes, I know that, and that is why we need more Republican
Senators. All 435 Senate seats are up for election...
Me: There have not been 435 Senators since Rome burned. Want
to try that again? No, wait. Let me explain. The House of Representatives
currently has 435 members, all of whom face election every 2
years. The Senate is currently 100 members and only one-third
of them face election every 2 years. So, what are you asking
me for?
Caller: We need to raise money to elect more Republican Senators.
Me: Out of curiosity, who is the minority leader of the US
Senate right now?
Caller: Michael Steele?
And so on. This call lasted quite some time, since I asked
for a supervisor who was even less well informed. They could
not name any Congressional leader except the false queen Pelosi
and seemed somewhat baffled that Senators could not unseat her.
They could not name the Republican candidate for Senate here
in Florida, even though they were trying to raise money for him.
The answer to "Who is the GOP Senate candidate here in
Florida?" was, "Oh, wait. I can't remember the name.
Tea Party endorsed. I know that...."
What bothered me about this call was the fact that these callers
have no idea how our government is structured. None. They don't
know the difference between the House and Senate. They have no
clue as to who is running or who is currently in office. This
is not a lack of briefing by their employers. This is a lack
of proper education in basic American civics. It is a lack of
basic knowledge about who sits in leadership posts in our government.
I learned this stuff when I was in elementary school. It would
be do easy to blame the schools or teacher's unions. And they
should be brought to task for this. But the real culprit here
is the failed 2 party system we have. The Democrats and Republicans
don't want voters to know how it works or who is in charge. If
the voters knew the truth about how horribly twisted and corrupt
the system has become, no incumbent would ever win re-election.
So what are they teaching in the schools? Keep in mind that
we just send billions to school districts across the country
to help them meet their budgets. And while that money is controversial
(what isn't controversial these days?) what is more aggravating
is the lack of any kind of requirements or conditions to get
the funding. So what do we get for our billions?
Not civics or any education on how our government works. No
real explanation of our rights and freedoms. No teaching about
how a bill becomes law or why a bicameral legislature is more
representative than a unicameral form. Nope. We get more nonsense
self-esteem claptrap. More "everyone is a winner" stupidity.
Another round of "everyone can do anything."
And that is how a political fundraiser has no idea how the
political system works. And that is why our elected officials
are simply embarrassing. That is why the ballot has become a
"hold your nose and vote," process. If you think this
generation of self serving narcissistic elected failures is bad,
wait for the next one.
One of the few things that is bipartisan is that narcissistic
self righteousness. Look at Eric Cantor and Alan Grayson. Two
members of the Parliament of Whores we call Congress. One from
each of the corrupt parties. Yet, they are almost the same person.
Totally convinced that they are right and everyone else is too
stupid to see that. Both talk to the people like we are 4 year
olds. Neither has a clue about the reality of life on "Main
Street," and neither actually cares.
That is just 2 of the 535 self serving corrupt entities that
occupy Capitol Hill. Those 2 are just examples of how bad our
Congress really is. Sure. Obama's poll numbers are dropping.
And well they should. He is not doing what one could call a great
job. But Congress? Their numbers would embarrass Spiro Agnew.
So few people hav favorable view of Congress that it is entirely
possible that all of the favorable view results came from employees
of Congress.
Well, I think we need to do some unemploying. Starting on
November 2, we need to get rid of all of the party hacks and
whores that are in Congress now and elect anyone that is not
an incumbent. They cannot possibly be worse than the corrupted,
self serving, overly entitled batch we have now. And where possible,
not from one of the 2 failed parties.
If anyone can be blamed for the mess we have now, it is the
Democratic Party and the Republican Party. As the phone call
pointed out so effectively, they actually don't care about the
governing part of the deal. All they want is the winning. For
them it is just a game. Well, we are the umpires and it is time
to send them to the clubhouse permanently.
In that vein, I am offering T-Shirts with this message.

As a capitalist and a free market person, I am selling them
for both profit and with the intent of donating to gun rights
orgnizations and those candidates that are willing to step outside
the parties and declare a concern for the Constitution and the
people.
You can follow my blog and order them here: www.itisnotagame.com
Feel free to e-mail me your thoughts and comments at
keeva@mindspring.com
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