I’d like to introduce you to my son, Chris. This May, he will turn 20. He’s taking a full college load in San Jose, he works full time for AT&T, and he’s well informed about what’s going on in the world; who the players are, what they’ve done, and what they’re saying. Follows this intro is his reply to my earlier posting: “The hard-Right’s latest push-poll survey.”
In addition to being a rather gifted writer (While I struggle, check definitions, look for alternative word selections in my Roget’s Thesaurus, and then edit, then edit some more, he just writes on the fly.), he has wisdom and common sense beyond his years in his quiver. I used to chide my now since passed-on mother, with no insinuation to her intended at all, it had been my experience that the only discernable, for-sure and necessary difference between a 7-year-old and a 77-year-old was 70 years.
The preceding I include because Chris has every legitimate excuse to not be informed, to be too busy to try to be fully informed. Yet, every single day, I encounter adult Americans who jack their jaws, utter the most egregious nonsense out their rear sphincter, all on the supposition that as they have an opinion, it is both valid and worth something. (All feelings are valid, opinions do not secure that same prima facie level of validity.)
In some instances, the busyness of life is just too crowded to jam the space, to find the time when there is no time to become more current. Those instances, however are rare. By and large, I find Americans are no more concerned about the important stuff that’s transpiring than they are “brave.” Pretending to be and singing it are so much easier, but it doesn’t make it so. Tune into C-SPAN once in a while. Turn off that utterly stupid sit-com or completely unreal, vapid “reality” show. Pick up a book, one that isn’t touchy-feely-feel-good because you’re not going to follow its recommendations anyway, or one that isn’t some empty romance novel or mystery, and read the US Constitution (No big words, I promise.), or some other nonfiction piece. Subscribe on-line to NYT, or WaPo, or Huffington Post, or Daily Kos, or Armed Forces Journal, or any number of informative periodicals; they’re all FREE! For the overwhelming majority of Americans, there just is no excuse whatsoever for not being informed, and any protest to the contrary is evidence of the most shamefully flagrant laziness, stupidity and cupidity. There is no law — natural or human made — mandating anyone has to be either stupid or ignorant.
With that peroration dispensed with, following my sign-off is Chris’ response.
— Ed Tubbs
I think the only thing more difficult than holding back my laughter while reading those questions would be imagining how they could make that questionaire any more biased and misleading.
"Do you support the House Democrats' "slow-bleed" strategy to "choke-off" funding for our troops in Iraq, leading to their withdrawal and a perception of American defeat? "
Well if I don't support that strategy then the soldier who's running for his life from insurgent gunfire sure as hell does. And how does that lead to a "perception of defeat"? The only people on the planet who haven't "perceived" this war as a defeat are those who started it, Bush and his cabinet of corruption.
"Do you agree with the Nancy Pelosi Democrat Majority’s decision to impose massive tax hikes on the American people?"
First of all, how does she support a "tax hike"? She's supporting having an economy that isn't knee-deep in debt and overbudgetting because of irresponsible tax reduction that almost-unilaterally support the rich.
"Do you support Congressional Republicans’ efforts to decrease domestic government spending in order to reduce the national deficit?"
Well that would be great for them to decrease the national deficit that they created in the first place. It's an important thing in life called responsibility.
"Do you support the Democrats’ efforts to give federal government bureaucrats complete control of your health care costs and choices?"
I think the sick lady who has to file for bankruptcy to pay for enormous prescription drug costs would prefer to have government controlled medicare over no care at all.
Should Republicans in Congress make expansion of Veterans’ benefits a priority?
Yes, a good start would be for them to start giving benefits to those coming back from the war we're still in, instead of trying to pass legislation to leave them out in the cold.
"Do you support maintaining anti-terrorism laws that give law enforcement and intelligence agencies the far-reaching powers to track, detain and prosecute terrorists and their accomplices?"
Yes if these far reaching powers don't include using torture techniques on "suspected" terrorists and holding them in detention without reason.
"Do you think House Republicans should continue fighting for comprehensive education reform to ensure that every child in America receives a first-rate education?"
Wow. This one is just laughable. I guess by "fighting for comprehensive education" they mean cutting education spending for poor schools, reducing funding for student grants and loans and instituted meaningless programs like No-Child-Left-Behind.
"Do you agree that winning back a Republican Majority in the House of Representatives is essential to stopping the Nancy Pelosi Democrats from raising our taxes, destroying our economy (emphasis mine) and endangering our homeland?"
Whoever wrote that must have fallen out of their chair laughing. I guess going against all logic and reason was the gameplan for this question, it must have been. You can't call refusing to extend an irresponsible and unbalanced tax cut in the face of enormous debt a tax-raise. Last time I checked the last Democrat in office left us with a huge budget surplus which eight years of Bush has been turned into a gigantic debt. By all accounts of anyone with a respected opinion in the world community, we are no safer now than we were before the war. If anything, we're more at-risk now because we've given way to an even more intense dislike towards us in the middle-east and abroad and we've ignored the most volatile nations which harbor terrorists.
That questionaire is a slap in the face for anyone who's capable of intelligent thought.
