This business about Social Security is so confusing. Someone
is lying. But who is lying? I know, that is a dumb question as we know by now
that everyone is lying. I guess the more
pertinent question is who is lying the more egregiously. I have heard for
weeks, months, even years that Social Security has nothing to do with the
deficit. It is not funded by taxes, is solvent, at least for quite a while, can
presumably be easily adjusted to survive for a very long time, and has been said
repeatedly to be “off the table.” So why are we now hearing about possibly
reducing it, or eliminating it, or privatizing it, or who know what with it?
I can understand why Republicans keep bringing it up,
dragging it into deficit reduction, “entitlements,” and so forth, even though
as an independently funded program it is not an entitlement. They have been
opposed to it, and attempting to do away with it since FDR established it in
the first place. Presumably they miss the enjoyment of seeing old people living
in poverty and slowly suffering. But why on earth would President Obama even
consider tampering with it, reducing it, using it as a negotiating tool? It is supposed to be off the table, so why
isn’t it? I cannot answer this question unless, perhaps, maybe, possibly,
President Obama is not really serious about using it as a negotiating tool, or
is basically just a “Fink,” which I do not like to think about.
Another thing I find terribly confusing is the deficit. That is, is the deficit a problem or is it not? Most everyone, including Obama, seems to think it is a serious problem. But others seem to think it is not such a problem. One claim now is that whereas when Obama took office the deficit was 10% of something-or-other it is now only 5% of something-or-other. So what is it? Damned if I know. I wonder if anyone else really knows or if this is all just more hot air. Some say the deficit is the most serious problem and can only be solved by less spending, others say jobs are the most serious problem and increasing spending for jobs is the solution. So what is a mental midget supposed to believe? I tend to go with the more spending, more jobs view, not because I know that is necessarily the best solution (I mean, after all, what do I know?), but because I know from experience that while Democrats lie sometimes, Republicans lie all the time.
Gun and ammunition sales are apparently soaring. I take this to mean, following the logic of LaPierre, that eventually gun violence will disappear, as the answer to gun violence, according to him, is more guns. The good guys with guns will win in the end, just like they always did in the “B” westerns I grew up with, and just as LaPierre says they will. I guess we should take comfort in knowing there are apparently more guns now in the U.S. than people. Whee! It’s so exciting!
On another front, run, run, run for your life, the Iranians are coming, the Iranians are coming! They may someday, perhaps, possibly, if we don’t bomb them quickly, have the capacity to sometime in the future make a bomb, and if they do, watch out world, they will use it to not only attack Israel and the United States, but presumably the entire world (they are said to be a danger to the world). This Iranian scare is the most nonsensical bullshit I have ever heard, leave it to Netanyahu, the world’s number one Yahoo, to keep fanning the flames for another war, and leave it to Lindsey Graham, the world’s second greatest Yahoo, to keep egging him on. There is no doubt a diplomatic solution for the (basically non-existant) Iranian “problem” could easily be found if the ridiculous mass hysteria would subside. I commend President Obama for keeping us out of another unnecessary criminal “war” so far, but it looks now that we might still be maneuvered by Netanyahu and the hawks into another terrible and stupid war crime just as we were in the case of Iraq. I am hoping (not against hope I hope) Obama and Hagel will be able to resist the pressure for another senseless premature attack on still another innocent Middle East country to try to prevent something that is ultimately militarily unpreventable and will cost thousands of innocent lives. But stupid is as stupid does (I hate that phrase).
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