Saturday, May 28, 2011

Outrageous Hypocrisy & Picking the Low Fruit this Memorial Day

I received a couple of Patriotic e-mails from a friend of mine this memorial day weekend and it got me to to thinking about Patriotism, Nationalism and the way they are currently practiced here in the Good Ole USA.

The current crop of congressman in the majority party profess extreme patriotism, yet are simultaneously attempting to further impoverish the very people they publicly venerate.

First, here's a not so subtle video concerning Congressman Ryan's budget proposal and the privatizing of Medicare.



While extreme in its content, the video does illustrate the two points made in the title. First, the current attempt to privatize medicare, if successful, will most definitely hurt seniors' life expectancy and ability to get adequate medical care. Secondly, the elderly and poor are the low hanging fruit for Republicans and Democrats alike these days.

The Hypocrisy of course is that the so called patriots will end up hurting millions of us who actually fought and served in the military. I sometimes use my VFW pin as a tie tack or wear in on my lapel when attending formal dress events. On a cruise ship someone asked me about the pin and I replied it was very inexpensive, "All you had to do was sign up for military service and go somewhere where people were trying to kill you."

To all those wanna be warriors in our congress and senate (intentionally lower case) on this memorial day; I invite you to Kiss My Ass. Real patriotism means taking care of those that fought for you, not betraying them to the moneyed interests that get you elected each term.

The last president to serve overseas during wartime was George Bush senior. Before him Reagan sat out conflict in the reserves stateside during WWII, similar to young Georgie Bush who flew in the Texas Air National Guard during Vietnam, never leaving the states. Of course our current president has no military service either and continues two wars in the middle east and occasional forays like Libya.

Too often those that have no idea of what war is really like end up having too large a say in the USA going to war. Just witness our latest conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. These long and fruitless endeavors have helped bankrupt the country both financially and morally.

A chart and study available here show that the two things most likely to sink our economy in the coming years are the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Bush tax cuts. Funny how that study never gets mentioned in congress by either party.

The effects of the recession on our elderly and most vulnerable citizens are manifested in many ways not spoken about in congress or the media.

From a study by AARP and with thanks to Ronni Bennett at "Time Goes By" here are a few of the sad statics for seniors after the recession. Oh, you can see all of them here.

  • 24.7% of those surveyed have already exhausted their savings
  • 12.4% lost their health insurance
  • 49.5% put off medical or dental care due to finances

I hope our future leaders will have less selective memory and more true patriotism than the current gang. Though, I'll admit I am not too hopeful.

Regardless of the cretins now in power, I hope you take a minute this weekend to remember those that fought and died for our country, even if they might roll over in their graves at the current mess we've made of our heritage.

Hope you have a great weekend,

RT

3 comments:

Jack E said...

Hey man got your message, both here and on the phone.

Jim is coming home tomorrow for the first time since he moved to DC.

Nancy is doing the mom things for her baby. She's so excited.

Seriously, going to give you a call after this high goes away and get together with your better half.

Jack E said...

I got your message, both here and on the phone.

Jim is coming home tomorrow for the first time since he moved to DC, he's already disliking it, it was 90 yesterday and 75% humidity, said he went to a crawdad roast for the holiday and couldn't get cooled off, he said it rained and it just got stickier.

So, after this high wears off Nancy says we are going to meet you and your better half somewhere.

McPhleger

Richard said...

OK Mcschtick, see ya after the excitement and all.

RT