TOOLS

My first impressions of the  government came from watching John F. Kennedy on T.V.. It is how I felt ; the inspired , religious quality  at the heart of that memory that stays with me.It would be decades before it would occur to me that it was more important to think about politics than to be inspired by it.Government is supposed to be a tool employed by civilized society to construct and maintain an ordered  method of co-existence for it's citizens.

 There have been organizing principles in existence for thousands of years that actually work to improve the quality of peoples' lives.The U.S. constitution has co-opted , or invented some of the best of these ideas.The fact that we should hate the tool of  government for being wielded without expertise is blaming the hammer for the poorly built house.It is lack of interest that allows the electorate to distract us from their fundamental responsibility :to provide services ,protect  the country , and produce factual evidence for the decisions made on our behalf. Wholesale acquiescence to the dis-functionality of government is simply an indication of our level of apathy and intellectual laziness .

The expression of the philosophical differences that define the current climate has become so strident   that it detracts from the  ability to examine serious problems rationally. A good idea is a good idea.When we assign labels  to institutions and ideas we only invite  ourselves to stop thinking.

• Public Education is Socialism
• Free Enterprise is Wage Slavery

 The principles of hard work and reward that  work so well in business  can be applied to government .That doesn't mean we should turn our public schools over to for profit management  companies that have been tapping the tax dollar cash cow   while screaming about socialism.[See Dianne Ravitch blog -former adv. to bush 1 on charter Ed.] In Ohio , for example, 83 out of 84 of the worst performing schools were charters.This noble experiment is a failure.

The intractable nature of the teachers union is no secret either. An attorney friend and former school board member involved in negotiations with the N.E.A. quoted the local union negotiator as having said , " I'll start worrying about kids when they start voting for union office holders ".This incident occurred some 15 years ago when anti-union rhetoric was still somewhat muted.Incidents like this have helped create the myth that there is no longer any need for union representation anywhere.A large  number of baby boomers   were raised by parents that had real , living wages as a result of the negotiating leverage of unions.They built a healthy economy and educated record numbers of  their children.These things appear to be slipping away in the current low wage ,service sector economy.Without candid dialog between entrepreneurs and workers we may be poised to experience the violent civil unrest seen in other countries with widening economic disparity.   

.The rise of private military contractors is also troubling.These  mercenary armies handle an alarming share of tasks that our military used to handle. This raises the specter  of a domestic, warlord class; more mobile , well equipped , and less accountable than the conventional military . 

 Growing up  watching King , Kennedy , Bob Dylan, and even the Beatles  helped  create a sense of optimism for many of us, but sooner or later we all find our own reasons to get out of bed every morning.We shouldn't have to be told when to get angry or when to  be inspired by the political class .We are the adults in the room.The practical application of principle should have a place in governing.That means the acceptance of people that deeply disagree.We are  being played by many of the current electorate.They use our beliefs to create whatever divisions it takes to get through the next election .If they are the tools of a functioning democracy than we need to make sure we have the right tools for the job.

Happy New Year From Buster, and Oliver.

LANSING , MI. POLICE UP YOUR VAGINAS.- THE TWAT S.W.A.T. TEAM IS IN TOWN

 The G.O.P.[ Gynocops  On Patrol] never seem to tire of performing political pelvic exams on the reproductive rights of women .The mostly white, mostly male, republicans in Michigan have just rammed there pulsating poles of political muscle through the legislative body.Armed with a petition signed by a meager three percent of voters their "rape insurance" law will now forcibly enter the legal bloodstream.

 G.O.P. representative Bodingus Yooperowski was quoted as saying " If I take  too much Medicaid -covered Viagra and rape somebody,  I still might wanna keep the baby. I have a god given right to do just
that. This law prevents some  crazy girl full of hormones  from making a choice that effects my baby .We will continue to make it hard for these women. "

The legislative anomaly that allowed for the passage of this violation of womans' rights is something no one saw coming .Not unlike the rapist. Michigan woman now need to purchase additional insurance riders to have an abortion  in the event of rape or incest.

The Michigan state legislature is controlled by some very excitable boys .If we can't find a way to cock-block there legislative lust we are all gonna get hosed.

WELCOME TO WHITEHOOD-PACKIN' AND CUL DE SACCIN'

Well-armed white folks will eventually tire of waiting for targets of color to wander onto  porches and into their crosshairs.We've seen what happens when guns proliferate in poverty stricken enclaves.People of the same class and color begin settling trivial arguments with lead.When single, shotgun soccer moms and pistol-packin' parents start showing up to sporting events , armed to the teeth , there's bound to be mayhem.Watching our kids play games pisses most of us off. If anything can bring on a fit of murderous rage it's watching your sons soccer team get beat by girls .I've seen it happen .It was my grand daughters team and she made a boy cry. I digress , but felonious assault was not out of the question. That was a couple of years ago and suburban semi-automatichondria had not yet hit it's stride
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While it is true that more blacks are killed at the hands of blacks than at the hands of whites and that a high percentage of gun violence occurs in population dense areas , the ownership of guns in rural and suburban communities is steadily increasing. In articles by both Mother Jones and M.Live state police officials from Georgia and Michigan estimate that half the people on the road today are armed  There are already ample examples of handgun use in road rage incidents.One especially grisly case in Alabaster ,Georgia involves  two bright,  middle class women .One is on her way to pick up her daughter from her special needs school.The other on her way home from work.After a quick lane change and typical back and forth insults they both took the same freeway exit.After stopping at a light one driver got out of the car, and approached the other on foot.She leaned down ,peered into the driver side window and was shot in the face by the driver.She died at the scene,never having picked up her disabled daughter from school .These  incidents may not be statistically relevant but the mindless,  split-second , ruthlessness of it resonates.

Statistics do demonstrate that suburban and rural Americans are the undisputed virtuosos of non-military,  mass shootings.Over eighty percent of the incidents that qualify as mass shootings in the last three decades have been committed in rural and suburban areas.The ten thousand pound Howitzer in the room is brutally obvious.We have been manipulated to think we can protect ourselves with guns.Even police rarely discharge their weapons over the course of an entire career in a profession that serially places them in contact with the very criminals we are told we need to arm ourselves against.As for the delusion that  that we need to protect ourselves from our own military.One well trained,well provisioned ,squad of regulars could erase a legion of weekend warrior hypocrites.If the feds decide to wage war against their own people an AR15 won't help.In the event of a  Zombie apocalypse maybe.

There are over three hundred million firearms in the U.S. today The firearm business in America generates almost twelve billion dollars a year.That is a mighty investment in fear, paranoia, and the serial murder of animals. The  N.R.A. and A.L.E.C.  [American Legal Exchange Counsel] say we need more armed citizens at all times in all places to prevent mass shootings.  In  sharp contrast to that tired argument not a single mass murderer in the last three decades has been stopped by an armed civilian.It is hard to believe that , in the end,  it's all about the money .There are religious elements oddly aligned with gun lobbyists.There are also psychotic super patriots who may truly believe Charlton Heston was Moses and" he loved him some gun."

We have a right to live in a society with competent police protection that  citizens vigilantly evaluate.It is our duty to make the institution perform.As imperfect as it may be, it is better than mini-vans and bungalows filled with anti -depressant addled vigilantes with guns at their bedsides and in their glove compartments waiting to go Diehard on the neighbors tattooed son.The P. A. C. s that lobby on behalf of the gun manufacturers have to be dragged into the sunlight.The success of their state by state passage of laws like Stand Your Ground is breathtaking, partly because most of this occurred without notice.There are petitions in circulation advocating the repeal of this vague and dangerous law in many states .Google it and you will find a wealth of resources and research .Careful though,common sense tells us  to be cautious when dealing with bees,right wingers,religious fanatics, and people with guns.We might not understand them ,but there are consequences to pissing them off.