I have studied to understand the political beliefs of many parties and
groups and why they believe as they do.
The Tea Party is one of the biggest stumpers of all, however, because it
is near impossible to understand what they stand for and believe in. It is a moving target, championed by some
notable conservatives at times. It has
morphed into this and that in the last few years. One of its clarions, Sarah Palin cannot tell
you what the party is, but she is firmly attached to it as one of its
staunchest members.
By the signs they tote in demonstrations in Washington, D.C. we do know that they believe in “No Youth in Asia.” Say what? Could they mean “No Euthanasia”, perhaps? Was this in reference to the self-entanglement the Tea Party found itself in when it attempted to suggest that the Obama Administration wanted to let old people die naturally rather than to pay for the cost of last illness expenses? See how quickly the water muddies?
The Koch Brothers, two notable Neocon cash cows from Wichita, Kansas bussed a bunch of Tea Baggers down from Pennsylvania to D.C., all expenses paid, to demonstrate against Obama’s government of big spenders for welfare and other people causes. Roving reporters established the fact that none of the demonstrators who claimed to be Tea Baggers really understood much about U.S. history or how our government worked. Yet there they were with the full support of Rand Paul, Sarah Palin, and the Fox News talking heads like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Bill O’Reilly. They all lauded the Tea Party as something good for America. But duh, what was it and what did it stand for? Less government spending? Fine. So can we cut both some welfare programs AND military spending? For sure to the first question, but cut back on our defense budget? Why no way because we need to keep America strong while it protects us and the rest of the world from terrorists. It gets a bit tricky when you ask that question.
With every article I read about the Tea Baggers my mind drifts to thoughts of my great grandmother Minerva, born in Alabama in 1855. If she were alive today, surely she would share some of the bizarre beliefs of the Tea Party. I think she would agree wholeheartedly with the Tea Party that borrowing and spending trillions of dollars is morally wrong. Unless the funds were needed to attack and occupy Iraq for the longest war in our history. That would make it morally right to borrow the money for such a noble cause, right? Well, you sure won’t hear some of the conservatives mention cutting down the money they spend on the military.
Everything I know about Minerva is hearsay and secondhand. She believed the world was flat. When riding downhill in a Model T she would make her son-in-law stop and let her out to walk down to where the road leveled out and got back into the vehicle just in case the driver lost control of the steering wheel. She did not know what to think about airplanes and would not talk about it if one happened to fly overhead. Her favorite poem sums up her political philosophy on government:
“Jefferson Davis rode a milk-white horse,
And Lincoln rode a mule.
Jeff Davis was a real president,
And Lincoln was a fool.”
Odd, but you never hear a word of dissent from any of the staunch supporters of the GOP and the Tea Party on why it’s okay to spend big money on war. Ever wonder why Sean Hannity never criticized George W. Bush for borrowing and spending $4 trillion during his 8 years as Decider-in-Chief on invading and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan? What about Rush? Boehner? O’Reilly? C’mon folks. Money is money. So why wouldn’t staunch conservatives all over the land, talk shows and Congress voice a terrible noise and dissent on our war spending? Especially on invading and occupying Iraq on the basis of having weapons of mass destruction pointed at America? Why hasn’t any of Hannity’s “great Americans” voiced outrage at our borrowing and spending so much on war?
Indeed. Why not?
Why do they go after the Democrats’ liberal base of those who seek government help, welfare, and government money because (as the Neocons, Republicans, Conservatives, take your pick) welfare for the needy has become a (wink, wink) drain on our Treasury and tax dollars dontcha know? And (ho-hum) forget about the Military Industrial Complex that charges America $1.4 trillion for a single Tomahawk Missile and maybe $1 billion for a Stealth Bomber? No price is too high when it comes to protecting the American people.
According to Sarah Palin, it was peachy keen to deliver shock and awe to Iraq because George W. Bush was “doing God’s work and we needed to support him.” She said this from the podium in her church. It’s not okay to borrow and spend for programs that help Americans, you know, the usual: Social Security, Medicare, education, food stamps, welfare and healthcare for illegal Mexicans. But our borrowing and spending to fund a long war in Iraq is okay because the darling of the Tea Party says it is “God’s work.” Well, blow me down, wonder how she knows that? When Putin raised his head and looked at her across the Aleutians, did he tell her that? But Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction pointed at us, didn’t you know? What ever became of that, some 4 trillion dollars later? Anybody ever run across one o’ them weapons?
The notion has been suggested that the reason the Tea Party, backed by the billionaire Koch Brothers, seeks to put a lid on government spending is so that there will be more money to give even more tax cuts for the rich. When our National Debt is over $16 trillion and rapidly rising, we still give trillions of dollars back to the richest taxpayers? Did we fall and hit our head? Do we think that the stupid raising the debt ceiling drill will never catch up with us and eventually ruin our currency and lives?
It’s like being cast adrift in a wooden boat off the Arctic Circle and you cut out pieces of wood to burn to keep warm at night. But please understand that the person adrift is not the rich man. He is the boat builder and will never be set adrift, no matter what. And he has never been to the Arctic Circle and won’t ever go. So who is cast adrift in the wooden boat? I think it might be us.
Looks like waging wars are the ticket for prosperity, not just for the working class seeking a substantial good wage, but for the rich who build the government hardware, software, guns and planes. And the working man pays for it all in his taxes. “War is Peace.” Who said that?
But why is war such a big expense of “America the already broke and deep in the hole?” And at the mercy of nations who have a surplus budget? Because the Military Industrial Complex is owned by rich people of the world. How do you think they get those “NO BID” contracts? Campaign donations. Which the Supreme Court just interpreted the law to mean it is now okay to give any amount, even a zillion dollars to any candidate for office. Sounds like a draft bidding process for new players in the NFL. In any event war is the highest ticket item of worldly endeavors. War is the magic Lotus blossom that makes governments look the other way when paying for millions of $500 hammers without batting an eye. War is a rich ladder to wealth. It pays the best. And it is curious how our country and conservative talk show hosts never criticize the trillions we spend on the MIC. Why is that? Why did Ike warn us about the Military Industrial Complex getting too damned cozy with Congress and the Pentagon? And how did our National Debt reach the height of over $16 trillion? Next time we will devote more detail to these questions raised and out on the table while we fall deeper and deeper into the darkest levels of debt the world has ever seen. And discuss some of our options. To just imagine the United States falling into bankruptcy send chills up my spine. Can’t happen? I wasn’t scared until this last brush with paying our bills halted our government for days and cost us some unnecessary billions of dollars in penalties and shutdown expenses. That sure looked like a default to me. Will Congress come to our rescue? Before the next time? The witch’s hour glass has been turned over and is falling once more, and the sand is still red. Is that a symbol somehow?