A "Poopie Head?"

A Poopie Head? Really? That is a phrase I would not even expect to hear in Elementary School, but maybe in kindergarten. It reminds me of the time when a very small boy was so angry with me he finally blurted out, “you, you, tootsie roll.” I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that such a phrase would emerge from the lips of Grover Norquist as that is, I believe, quite consistent with his Intelligence Quotient. But he is a clever fellow, I grant you (most kindergarteners are as they are not as yet completely socialized or enculturated). Norquist not only managed to come up with the most idiotic political pledge ever conceived, he even somehow convinced hundreds of (presumably) adults to sign it. One of the important functions of government is to raise and spend revenue. Thus to sign a pledge that one would never, under any circumstances, raise taxes, is an act worthy only of kindergarten. It is basically signing a promise that even though you were elected to a governmental office you intend to not participate in governing. I am not sure whether Grover thinks Romney really is a Poopie Head or whether he thinks President Obama unfairly described him as such. In any case his belief that Romney lost because Obama was able to so label him is only one of the many pathetic excuses Republicans are offering as to why they lost the election. Somehow they seem unable to understand that if you insult and alienate virtually every voting block In the country they are not going to vote for you. It should seem obvious even to the mind of a kindergartener that if Blacks, Latinos, Women, Young people, Jews, Muslims, and other minorities are going to vote against you, you are not likely to win. But such is the unfathomable mind of the Republican.

This infantile behavior can also be seen in the requests that I gather have been pouring in to Washington that many, if not most of the losers would like to secede from the union. That is, take their ball and go home. Personally I would be pleased if they did secede as they actually cost the government more than they contribute and probably wouldn’t last longer than six months if they had to govern themselves.

We would have two nations, separate and unequal, one with an average I.Q. above the average and one with an average I.Q. below the average (I suspect this is quite likely factually correct). Try to imagine living in a nation in the 21st century run by people who do not believe in science, evolution, global warming, waiting around for “the Lord to provide,” and basing their organization on biblical grounds. It might be amusing, especially when the arguments began about who the really “true believers” are and who are merely cultists of one kind or another. Trees would once again bear “Strange Fruit” and they could have contests as to who could violate the most civil rights. Paradise could be regained, women could be kept barefoot and pregnant, moonshine would flow like water, and perhaps they could re-establish a market for cannon balls and harness making. I bet in no time at all they could easily rival the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

I find the Petraeus scandal to be (1) not very surprising, and (2) not in and of itself very interesting. But like all such rather minor affairs it will probably prove to be both fascinating and criminal. Why, for example, did an FBI agent who was merely a friend of the women who complained about her emails begin an apparently serious investigation of such a mundane complaint? And why was Eric Cantor informed of it two weeks before the President? Why were the appropriate members of Congress not informed of what was going on? Oh, boy, this is going to prove exciting, certainly exciting enough to take our minds off less important matters like the economy, global warming, and stuff like that. Conspiracy theories are multiplying faster than rabbits. Do you think the Republicans actually framed Petraeus in order to take our minds off their dismal showing in the election? No? Well, neither do I, but one nonsensical theory is as good as another.

Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is in an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.

Frederick Douglass