Friday, December 23, 2011

An open letter to my right wing friends in the spirit of Christmas


To my hardcore, Fox News rhetoric spouting friends (of which there are admittedly few): I'd like to have a word for a moment in the spirit of Christmas: stop the unbridled and ignorant hatred. It's tiresome. 


I understand that you need SOMEONE to blame for the current situation in our country, but what so many seem to fail to understand is that what's happening today is a result of 30 years of political shenanigans and deregulation and rehashing the same failed tricks over and over under new & exciting names. Trickle down (now supply-side) economics didn't work in the 80's or 90's, so how is it a solution now? This crap started under Reagan, continued under Bush, Clinton, Bush Jr, and now Obama, so how is it solely the last guy's fault?


Easy answer - it's not. The more rancor and ire that gets raised, however, causes us to forget to use our better judgement, makes us easily susceptible to groupthink and lovely, lovely buzzwords, and turns rational people into an angry mob out for blood. Remember that these politicians, Republicans AND Democrats, are out for themselves, and themselves alone. They're really good at putting their hands up in the air, proclaiming total innocence, and vehemently pointing at the other guy. Some of the shit that's being done is shameful and borderline treasonous, and the backstepping and ass-covering is utterly blatent at best on both sides of the fence. The fact that so many people just accept this crap at face value without doing any due diligence is sad. Do a little research. Think for yourself. Automatons are not what made this country great.


Chill out, enjoy the time with your family, and in that downtime jumpstart the rational centers of your brains, and maybe, just maybe, we can come to the conclusion that these guys are ALL assholes.


Merry Christmas. ;)