hillbillypolitics.com

Posted by hillbilly on September 22nd, 2007 in Politics General

I’ve refrained from slamming the MoveOn.org ad against Petraeus, I had my say about Sally Field’s intelligence, I haven’t talked about Ahmadinejad and Columbia University, and I’ve been quiet for a few days mainly due to work. In short, I don’t have a lot to say about any of these events.

My position on the MoveOn ad is they have freedom of speech. If we wish to preserve that freedom for ourselves, we can’t prevent others for using that same privilege. They had the right to print the ad. However, we have the right to reject it as well. In addition, Petraeus has the right to pursue legal options because most of what was said was inaccurate at best, outright lies at worst. The intent of malice is clear just from the wording, . Petraeus probably won’t because of the politics but that’s his choice. Sometimes the goal of a lawsuit isn’t the money you can gain from it but the fact that you show what nasty hateful lying people can do for very little reason and the whole world can see it, too.

As far as Ahmadinejad “coming to America” I would have denied the visa but I suppose that couldn’t be done in the interests of diplomacy. How people react to him is their right whether we like it or not. Ahmadinejad thrives on attention just like every other celebrity so don’t give it to him. He gets entirely too much of the attention he craves for my liking. I’d rather give him some attention he doesn’t want… in the form of bombing the heck out of his country while he’s over here playing footsy with the stupid. And I wouldn’t particularly care what other countries thought about it, either. They don’t care about this country, it’s not theirs and not their responsibility and the U.N. can sanction us all they want. I could care less.

Our initial reactions to these things doesn’t have to be the last reaction to them. We have the right to free speech, too; to refute the nonsense of others… even to show what nonsense it is. And nonsense it is. Ask them questions and you’ll get trite nonanswers, follow through on the nonanswers and their arguments begin to fall apart before long and they degenerate into name calling and accusations rather than defend their point of view in an effort to persuade others to their side… that’s called bullying.

I look at the celebrities in Hollywood trying to push their views on the rest of the country and you know what I see? I see a bunch of washed up has-beens or never really beens who are trying to get back into the limelight so they say outrageous things just to get attention. We have children who act the same way.  I suggest handling them in the same manner we handle our children acting the same way. 

The sooner we get rid of Bredeson as Governor of Tennessee, the better. I can’t believe he was reelected, even, but then, he didn’t commit his worst decisions during that first term, did he? He saved them up for the second. I’m rather sick of the socialism going on though.

We have a surplus in the state coffers and Bredesen’s answer is to raise taxes. Taxes to pour into a broken education system, taxes to do nothing at all but make things harder on those of us who have to pay them. People think the tax in this state 8.25% but it isn’t. That’s the food tax only. For everything else, it’s 9.25%. I have a cold. I spent $13.48 on cold medicine. Taxes on that 13.48 was $1.25. He raised the taxes on cigarettes and gasoline as well. I forget what the exact amounts but one you need to be able to go to work in this place, the other… well… that’s a personal choice but I don’t see them going after other things that are bad for your health, like alcohol and even other tobacco products… especially those blunts they use for ”other”. But the point is, some people found a work around for the cigarette tax but Bredesen will make sure every Tennessean pays his or her fair share : Cross-border cigarettes could burn Tennessee buyers.

You know, I once thought of applying for substitute teacher here in Tennessee. I actually filled out the paperwork and everything. Then, they told me that I had to pay for a background check. I was offended because that’s like telling me I have to pay for a job. Besides, I doubt their background check would be anywhere near as thorough as what I went through to teach in DoD schools and I didn’t have to pay a penny for that. It doesn’t surprise me that there are scores of teachers in this state who have been caught in sex offenses. If they want to start fixing the education here, that’s the place to start… before they hire these yahoos in the first place.

When they decide to really fix the system, perhaps I’ll think about reapplying for a teaching position. I refuse to become part of the problem which is what would happen under the current circumstances. Realistically, I probably wouldn’t last long because I’d open my big mouth and say something about the wrongness, lol.

 Anyway, there’s really nothing we can do for these kinds of people until they hit rock bottom. Then, if they’re lucky, they’ll survive and learn a valuable lesson and turn their lives around. If not, well, pray for them but don’t enable them. In the meantime, recite the Serenity prayer and enjoy the weekend to the best of your ability.