veronica_rich | damn it, guys

Should you wonder why I haven't posted about politics for a while, it's that while I certainly wasn't unhappy with the results of last month's election, I didn't really think it would change anything in the way business seems to be getting done (or not) in this country. I'm as pissed as ever, but for slightly shifting reasons.

No, we don't need bans on assault weapons in the United States; we can get by just fine without them. There's no need to put restrictions on the kinds of firearms people are allowed to own and carry, not with the end of the world coming in 10 short days.

Now see, what we really do need are bans on unions. You remember all those decades between the 1940s and the 1990s, when there wasn't a union in sight, rich people paid 10 percent income tax, and business just flourished? Well, at least one of those things is true. Rich people paid THEIR fair share (meaning, if they get to profit off of living in this country, they can fucking well pay more for the privilege of having had the opportunity to make or inherit all that cash), and it was a lot more than a paltry 14 percent or whatever; and unions largely organized in response to lack of respect toward laborers - not to gouge company owners for soaring pay increases.

Let's think really hard about what's really destroyed our economy - aside from two illegal wars we shouldn't have started - executive bonuses have totaled far, FAR more than wage and benefits increases for the workers who actually carry out the labor that earns these companies their profits. Dismantling antitrust laws for media and other types of businesses over the last 30-plus years has also weakened our economic foundation. Entering into free trade agreements where our interests were not adequately protected, and allowing companies to earn their money off of selling to us without requiring them to spend it paying a U.S. workforce at the same time, have not helped.

I read a lovely tweet today under Obama's Twitter handle. It was basically "if taxes raise on the middle class, blame the Republicans." He's absolutely right. For too many years, the GOP has manipulated emotions and the message to make it look like the Democrats are responsible for making the concessions and fixing the problems when there's an impasse, and as though they are the ones who should be blamed when something goes wrong. I've called bullshit for years on this. It reminds me of my friend D's assertion that for society to remain functioning and standards decent, the burden is on women to take the higher road and behave better than men, as the foundation of society.

I'm not agreeing that what she says is right, but I do agree that's how things are made out to be much of the time when it comes to the sexes. The problem with this is, rather than elevating women to a higher status, this kind of thinking absolves men of bad behavior and holds women responsible for what are HUMAN failings completely across the board, penis or vagina. Similarly, when the GOP puts the entire burden of caving in/compromise on the other side, that party is setting the Dems up to be the failure, to be the scapegoat when ... well, whatever happens. (And if it comes out successful, of course they'll take the credit.) Obama is correct in putting this on them for a change, and I would hope he and the Congressional Democrats will stand stock still and let the tax cuts expire on Dec. 31, rather than let the GOP get away with yet another round of glad-handing to rich people who can bloody well pay more for the privilege of having lived in a society that gives them the breaks, loans, loopholes, assistance, and incentives to accrue that much money.

Of course, I don't have any real faith this will happen; I think the Democrats will cave like they've been doing for a long time, rather than punting the ball back to weepy!Boehner and saying "To hell with you; YOU solve the problem in a way that makes the majority of the lower- and middle-class country who voted Obama back in and even more Democrats into Congress**, happy. We've made a proposal, and we're not moving on it."

**I know the Senate picked up a couple more Democrats for 2013, and I'm pretty sure the House did as well, despite the fact it will retain a GOP majority.

And while I'm at it, can you in the collective GOP just STOP claiming Lincoln as part of your party? Did you not all learn like I did back in high school, that the Republicans of 1860 were actually more like the Democrats of today, and vice versa? You would no more back Lincoln to run as a GOP candidate if he were alive today, than you'd vote to adopt Islam as your party religion. Knock it off.

Also: If you're a Dem or Independent (or anyone else) still making fat jokes about Chris Christie? SHUT THE FUCK UP. You don't criticize someone on their skin color or sexual orientation unless they're making the foundation of their campaign criticizing those things in others, and you don't pick on someone's weight WHEN IT HAS SMEG-ALL TO DO WITH THE JOB THEY'RE DOING. If you can't criticize Christie's policies or actions, you don't have any legitimate complaints about him.

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