Wasting Time

Tomorrow will be the annual pre-genocide feast otherwise known as Thanksgiving. You know, the time the Indians (naively) helped the Whites get through the first difficult years of life in the “New World.” I know, I know, some will accuse me of being a “guilty white liberal,” and while I am more than liberal and certainly all white I feel no guilt about this. Why should I? I wasn’t even born and had nothing whatsoever to do with it. Of course I do feel guilty about the fact that in the 21st century there are people, especially children, going hungry and without homes in this “greatest nation on earth,” but that is for another time.

It seems to me we are just wasting time. Can there be any doubt that DADT is going to be repealed, if not in the next month, certainly in the near future, so why the stalling and fussing around about something that is widely known to be inevitable?

And why all the continuing argument about extending the tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires? This is an idea so fundamentally ridiculous it needs no further discussion. There is no valid reason whatsoever to give tax breaks to the upper 2% of our population, especially when we would have to go a further 700 billion dollars in debt to do so. This is not worthy of any further attention and if Democrats go along with it they will surely be finished as a serious political force. Any further discussion of this is a waste of time.

Then there is the START treaty that virtually everyone in the world wants ratified, and soon, except a few Republicans who have no truly sensible opposition other than their continued desire to force Obama to fail completely at everything (he’s black, you know). It seems to me this will inevitably have to be ratified and any further obstruction is just a waste of time. The current and serious problems facing our country at the moment, both domestic and international, are far too important to be held up by further Republican stalling, obfuscation, and unfounded objections designed for purely political reasons.

Now, with apologies to Bill Maher, and because I feel cranky and out-of-sorts, I would like to make a plea for “Old Rules” rather than his recurring take on “New Rules.” First, golf balls should be white. Until not long ago they were always white, not orange or pink or lavender, just white. That is as it should be. Second, food should be either, baked, roasted, or braised, not “Broasted.” The word “read” should be kept a verb, not made into a noun (the word “fuck,” likewise). Marshmallows should be kept far away from sweet potatoes and hot chocolate, hominy grits and okra should be kept in the South. Famous books should not be abridged, Valentine’s Day should be eliminated entirely, and Christmas should be restricted at least to only the month of December. Fine books should not be shelved unless the cellophane covers have been removed, ordinary tools and objects such as padlocks, hinges, screws and nails, should not be encased in hard to penetrate plastic coverings, beer should only come in bottles (or buckets), and the color pink should be abolished. “Man” should not be used as a term of address, the description “cute” should be restricted to only refer to baby animals, the word “potty” should be allowed only to very small children. Songs like “Tie a Yellow Ribbon..” and “You Light Up My Life,” should not be allowed more than once a year. Television commercials should not be allowed to run for more than, say, one month at the very most, and pharmaceutical ads should not be allowed at all. Diamonds should be marketed simply as “pretty rocks of little value,” genetically modified foods should not be permitted, bovine growth formulas should be eliminated, and nuclear energy should be abolished entirely. I could continue but enough is often more than enough. Suspend all thought and have a happy holiday.

LKBIQ:

“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.”

Anatole France