Political Thursday: It's Hard to Ignore a Tantrum That Destroys Lives

I need to preface this by saying that I don't have a problem with people who disagree with me. I mean, if you don't like Harry Potter, I may suspect that you have no soul, but I can still get along with you. But if you don't like Harry Potter because,  though you've never read any of the books or seen any of the movies, someone told you it was pro-devil. . . .then no, no I can't get along with you. It's not that we disagree about Harry Potter, it's that you haven't checked the facts yourself and you are being fed misinformation, probably by a Twilight fan.

It is this mentality that is driving me crazy as I look at certain social media accounts and see the posts of certain people, some of whom I may (or may not) be related to. . . . If you dislike the Affordable Care Act, that is your business. But you need to understand that it's a law like any other. . .you don't get to choose which ones you follow. I think the drinking age is stupid, but I'm not going to go out and buy alcohol for the teenagers I know. I'm also not going to shut down the government over it, not only because I'm too lazy and afraid of public speaking to run for office.

If you think the Affordable Care Act means you're going to have to pay for health care for lazy people. . . .er, guess what you're doing when those without insurance wind up in the ER? That's your tax dollars at work. Also, if you have health insurance through work, and you work with anyone who is old or has a chronic illness, you're already paying for someone else's health care.  Eighty percent of Americans already have health insurance through their employers, Medicare and Medicaid (this is where you'll find people who don't work, because of disability, old age or "laziness", but still get healthcare, btw). The Affordable Care Act makes it possible for freelancers like myself and Hot Guy to get health insurance without going completely broke and without wondering whether to admit to our health issues on the forms. It's about affordable care, not you paying for my health insurance while I sit around and eat bon-bons.

If you think the Affordable Care Act means that the government is taking away your freedom, I have some questions for you. Are you also this upset about having to buy car insurance? How is my having health insurance - which means your rates won't have to go up to cover the costs if I'm in an accident or something - taking away your freedom? Would you feel like your freedom was being affected if the government said that you couldn't have a medical procedure like an abortion? Would you feel like your freedom was affected if the government said you couldn't marry the person you loved? Do you feel like your freedom was hurt when President Bush signed the Patriot Act? How do you explain the success of RomneyCare in Massachusetts?

As for those who have insurance who are worried about their rates going up. . .um, hello, did you just get your insurance? Let me tell you, in the many years I did have insurance, I never had a year when my rates didn't go up. Not ever. So don't blame rates going up on Obamacare, blame it on greedy insurance companies and the massive costs of health care in this country.

A while back, I got into a debate on Facebook. At one point, the . . .instigator asked his victim (for lack of a better term), "Why are you taking this so personally?" Well, the debate was about gay marriage, with the straight instigator advocating against it. It wasn't personal to him, it wasn't about his life so he just couldn't understand. The victim, of course, is gay - gay marriage has a direct bearing on his romantic and financial future. That's kind of how I see people who are fighting against the ACA. They don't get it, because they have health insurance. It's not personal for them. But it's personal for me. I need the marketplace exchange to be able to afford health care -  I'm a freelancer with an autoimmune disease. I'm not getting insurance without this act.

The fact that there are people in Congress willing to shut down the government to stop me from getting health insurance. . . .that's so fucking personal that I can barely stand it. I can get along with you if you don't like the Affordable Care Act, but I can't handle it if your dislike is based on misinformation or if you're throwing a temper tantrum because too many other people DO like the Affordable Care Act.

PS: A special "Fuck You" to Fox News and the viewers who believe that this shut down is no big deal. As Jon Stewart pointed out, all spring you were talking about the horrors of the sequester. . .like the White House being closed to tours. Yet you don't care that museums are? Or that the FDA isn't inspecting our food? Or that babies are not getting their formula? Or that studies that can help kids with cancers are being put off? You make me sick.

Protesting Too Much

I love Facebook. (Like my page and I'll prove it to you!) Except when people that I am friends with on there show me how frightfully stupid they are. And I don't mean in a not knowing the difference between "your" and "you're" kind of way. I can overlook that if I love you enough. (Although I find it difficult. I can teach you the difference, you know. My first graders used to learn it.) 

You see, I'm terribly nosy. I like House Hunters and reality shows where they pretend they're filming people's actual lives, so Facebook is like a constant gossip drip. Except it's gossip about people I actually know, or have known, in real life. Sure, no one I know posts crap about cheating on their spouses (unfortunately) but I can see what it's like to live in Europe or Hawaii or a studio apartment. 

But I also have to look at people's political thoughts. Most of the time, I am amused. Possibly because most of the people I am friends with seem to agree with me politically, or what they post is obviously a joke. 

Then there are the frightful posts. The ones that make me want to message the posters and ask them if they've joined militias. You want to bitch about tax policy? Fine. You think President Obama is secretly Kenyan? Or comparable to Josef Stalin? You are a fucking idiot. A SCARY fucking idiot. 

In fact, most of the people who seem to post these have no idea what Obama's tax policy is. They don't understand what "Obamacare" is. They say nothing about gay marriage, abortion, birth control, rape, worker's rights or actual gun laws. They just make these sweeping statements that have no actual meaning. 

When George W. Bush was re-elected, I was heartbroken. I totally get what it feels like when the guy you think is terrible is re-elected. But it never occurred to me to compare W to Hitler, Stalin or Pol Pot - all of whom I've seen Obama compared to on good old Facebook. (Though no one in the thread seemed to know who Pol Pot was) In reality, neither W or Obama is anything like those genocidal assholes, you know? 

(Ann Coulter I'm not so sure about)

Sometimes, when I comment on these posts - not with insults but with facts, I promise - the person just deletes it. Other times they ignore me. 

It actually depresses the hell out of me. It tells me that they are too stupid (delusional?) to have a debate and that they don't even understand what they are endorsing. It's so different from when I get into debates with an actual conservatives. I got into one about gun control recently and it turned out that we agreed on like 80% of the issue. If we were in Congress together, I bet we could work shit out. 

Of course, we'd use things like "facts" and "compromise". Stuff Stalin - and all the people who accuse Obama of being Stalin - don't like. 

I Can't Help It

I don't want to be judgmental. I want to treat myself and others with kindness. I want to have empathy. I want to be able to accept other people's points of view. I was making a lot of progress in this department until the political primaries last year.

For example, I get it if you're anti-choice. If you really believe that life begins at conception, then of course abortion is a tragedy. Hell, even if you don't believe that, abortion is pretty tragic. But so many of the people who see stopping abortion as their number one issue don't see access to birth control and sex education and good public education and food stamps and affordable day care and affordable health care as their next most important issues. That's what I don't get. 

Also, I get that we should all do what we can for ourselves. But when I want to drive a long distance? I would like a nicely maintained interstate. And if a disaster strikes my home? I might need a FEMA trailer or other aid from the Federal government. When I start my small business? I'd love a grant or a loan - like many Republicans have gotten. When my kids go to college? They're going to need some Pell grants. When there's an outbreak of a scary virus? I want the CDC all over that shit. When there's a war, I would like an army, with officers trained at a famous service academy. I like National Parks. I like to know that new foods and medicines are tested before I give them to my kids. When I look at my utility and grocery bills?  I like that the government gives subsidies to utility companies and farmers so that my utilities and my food are cheaper.  None of us have been successful completely on our own, folks. Unless you grew up off the grid and never left the compound or bought anything from a store (shipping on the national highways, you know). . .shut up about the government's entitlement programs and how you did everything yourself. 

I think the bootstraps mentality is really just a way to bitch about so-called entitlement programs. Over 90% of "entitlement" funds go to the disabled, the old or the already working. If your belief is that they should all die or starve or be supported by their families, then fine. Hate the programs. Just be honest about it, okay? Don't bitch about 'welfare queens' who comprise less than 1 percent of this group, bitch about your Aunt Doris who gets disability because she's paralyzed. I have heard - more than once - people on disability complain about entitlement programs.  I have also heard this from people living in FEMA trailers because their homes flooded and they didn't have enough insurance to rebuild. And I've certainly heard it from people receiving social security benefits. It's like they don't see that they're receiving benefits. . . and the government will have to slash their benefits too if it wants to save money. I can't accept that their point of view is as valid as mine. 

And then we've got the people who are against Obamacare. Since Mitt actually instituted a similar program when he was governor of Massachusetts, I'm especially confused. Maybe people think it's a states' rights issue? Except that the state governments rely on Federal money to pay for Medicare, Medicaid and uninsured people anyway so. . .shouldn't the Feds get a say? Some people claim that giving everyone health care is socialist. I hope those people are also against social security, unemployment and disability payments - those were all called "socialist" once too. I also hope those people can explain what socialism is and realize that it has nothing to do with the government owning doctors, medications, hospitals or any other parts of the health care system. I have also heard that Obamacare will cost the virtuous American tax payer more because of all those lazy people who don't have jobs that provide health insurance. First of all, that's not true. Uninsured people use emergency rooms, which cost more and also hold up the people with real emergencies. Uninsured people are more likely to have healthcare issues become serious, which means they can't work. (But maybe they can go on disability - that's okay, right?) Uninsured people are usually working, because they can't qualify for Medicaid.

I'm okay if you disagree with me. Just make sure your viewpoint is consistent. And not hypocritical. 

An Apology to Transsexuals: A Rant About Birth Control

I said something inadvertently offensive on Twitter the other day. Since I'm not famous, this was only a big deal to me. As in, I've been feeling completely awful about it but only one other person reacted. Fairly mildly, I might add. Still, I feel like a total asshole. It's not like I've never said anything about an entire group of people before, or that I've never offended anyone before. It's just that, if I offend you because I say everyone should have the right to marry or that The Bachelor is stupid, well, then, I don't really mind offending you.

But in this case, in reply to a person asking how a "real woman" could vote Republican, I said something about always suspecting that Ann Coulter was a pre-op transsexual. Which is offensive to transsexuals, obviously. So I want to apologize. I am sorry.

Clearly I should have said that I suspected she was a lousy drag queen, or a robot created in Karl Rove's secret laboratory. Clearly I don't mean to imply anyone who identifies a woman, regardless of what's between her legs, is not a real woman. Though honestly, I think the phrase "real woman" or "real man" is pretty stupid. Gender, like sexuality, is an identifier influenced by biology as well as culture, so who gets to judge what's "real"? I always hear the women on Wife Swap saying how "real men" go out to work in an office or "real women" wear make-up or whatever crap the producers tell them to say. Do you think those assumptions work for indigenous tribes in the Amazon? Real is in the eye of the beholder, bitches.

But what was going on in my head when I made the statement about Ann Coulter was that she doesn't have a* uterus. And so far medical science is not creating uteri for transsexuals. (Though I totally think they should). I wasn't thinking about gender constructs and womanhood, I was thinking body parts. You see, if Ann Coulter had, or had ever had, a* uterus, she wouldn't be the Republican poster girl that she is. And if you have a* uterus, or have ever had a* uterus, or respect anyone with a* uterus,  you wouldn't dream of even voting Republican.

Even if you're so anti-choice that you'd happily bear the child of your rapist or let a loved one die to save a fetus. Even if you're so Catholic that you think using contraception is evil. Even if you believe in legal protections for cells from the moment of fertilization and are against IVF and stem cell research. Even if you believe that Planned Parenthood should be destroyed because 3% of its services involve abortion and that low income women don't deserve access to birth control, cancer screenings and other basic health care.

Here's the thing. If you have a uterus, you might need the pill sometime. The pill treats conditions like endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome and uterine fibroid tumors. These are things that just happen sometimes and are not caused by having sex while unmarried or liking threesomes or whatever other behaviors men fear. These conditions can happen to virgins and Christian mothers and everything. The pill can help alleviate some of the horrible symptoms so that these women can work and/or take care of their children and otherwise be productive members of society. Despite the medical necessity for these women, though,  Republicans do not want your employer sponsored health insurance to cover this pill. In fact, some Republicans (I'm looking at you, Santorum) do not want anyone to cover this pill. They don't care that it might be medically necessary. They don't understand that for some people twenty extra dollars a month really is a problem. They want to decide what's best for your uterus. And they don't even want to hear what anyone with a uterus has to say about it.

I'm guessing that they wouldn't listen to a transsexual, either.



*I think technically this word should be "an". But I also think "an uterus" sounds dumb. So there.

What Are Bootstraps, Anyway?

My father was a Republican until he got wiser in his old age, or until George W. Bush became the leader of the party, whichever you prefer. Last night we got into a discussion of Reagan and the Republican ideal of "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps."

What's interesting is that the Republicans don't have this same philosophy for corporations - they get tax breaks, they get huge grants with no oversight,  they get deregulated and sometimes they even get to be exempted from laws. Really. Look it up.

I'd always fought against the Republican philosophy - arguing for government help for the individual, such as keeping the mentally ill in hospitals and affordable health care and affordable day care and no tax breaks for the rich and parental leave policies at least as good as Hungary's and a high minimum wage. But as we prepare to bail out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and our economy goes down the tubes I'm starting to think maybe I was wrong.

All the Republican handouts for corporations have led to this  mess, you know. (Oh, and the war. Wasn't it nice of us to step in and help all those Iraqi citizens? I wonder why American citizens don't rate the same concern.) The great free market (except for farm subsidies, of course) and the beautiful, even corporate playing field has not worked out, has it? (Though I suppose it's not completely even, according to Time Magazine 68% of foreign corporations that do work in this country don't pay any taxes). Lives aren't improving. Job growth isn't improving. The only thing we've got growing is inflation. So who knows what would happen if we gave more help to the average citizen? Maybe things would get even worse. LIke they are in Canada. Or Sweden. Or New Zealand. Or Australia.

Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is actually one of those ideas that sounds great in theory. Maybe if all kids were born into safe and healthy homes and then went on to effective schools, maybe if they all got enough to eat and good healthcare and none of them had any mental illnesses, then I would believe that it was possible for everyone to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.