I think this may be the fourth installment of “WHAT THE #@*%&”. And what if it is? The world is still going crazy and there doesn’t appear to be anything that we can do about it, except maybe to voice our opinions. So let’s start off with everybody’s favorite topic these days, politics.
There was a time when we were told, “When in a group, there are two things you should never talk about, religion and politics”. I believe that we have progressed beyond the fear of talking about religion, at least in this country or perhaps some other place where people are free to think or to voice their own opinion without fear of censure, or worse. As to politics, I don’t think that we have progressed at all.
Case in point. I have a good friend who I have known for about twenty five years and we also know a lot of the same people which makes for a good deal of commonality, except in one area. Yes, you guessed it, politics. Where do we stand? Let’s just say that he is left of center and that I am right of center. How far left or right? It doesn’t really matter. What matters is this.
A few months ago I received an email from my friend which was more of a rant or attack on me that accused me of doing things that were far worse than the leftist of the left would ever accuse Donald Trump of doing. This was so far from out of nowhere that I thought to myself, “What was he smoking”? – and decided to ignore his email.
A couple of months go by and lo and behold, I get another unsolicited email from my friend, except that this one was stronger and more virulent than the first email. As an aside, I’ve noticed over the years that when getting into a discussion or confrontation with someone over politics, the person who is on the ‘right’ will politely listen before saying, “Yes, but……..” and then go into their canned speech, whereas the person who is on the ‘left’ will not even permit you to talk, will threaten to ‘unfriend’ you on the social medias and dictate that, “It’s their way or the highway”.
Of all the accusations made by my friend, I admitted to only one. No one is perfect. Right? The remaining accusations were totally off the wall but I will share two of them with you. I was then accused of being part of the group, he meant Republicans but didn’t actually say so, that sought to have enacted what he called, unfair tax advantages, and in so doing I was able to avoid the paying of my fair share of taxes which all of the poor people were not able to do. I reminded him that his Defined Benefit Pension Plan could have contributions that might be up to ten times or more what someone could contribute to their 401(K) Plan, all of which is fully deductible. So who is taking advantage of the tax laws? This brought to mind the adage, “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones”. At the end of his harangue he added that if it were not for the Democratic party and their progressiveness, we would not have a country. To this ridiculous statement I merely commented that I seem to remember from one of my classes in American History that Abraham Lincoln was in fact a Republican and if it had not been for him, we surely would not have a country such as we know it, nor any country for that matter. Did I get any kind of response on those two items? Of course not. In my friends defense, all I can say is that I do admire people who are loyal, except in the case of when it is blind loyalty to a political party, any political party.
Nevertheless, this anecdote is absolutely of no consequence when compared to the latest round of Bullshit emanating from Washington. There was a time when I liked Bill Clinton even though I felt that Hillary had no business in running for the position of Senator representing the State of New York, in true carpetbagger fashion. When the handwriting began to appear on the wall I said to myself that if Hillary picks Bill as her VP running mate, which is completely legal, she would be a sure thing. Just think. Two Presidents for the price of one. But that was then and this is now.
Between then and now, the world which includes anyone with half a brain, except those of course that have pledged their blind unquestioning loyalty to their party, has heard the bones of the skeletons rattling in the closets of Bill and Hillary Clinton to such an extent that those skeletons are more than ready to break down those closet doors. If nothing else, we’ve learned that Bill Clinton was a far worse philanderer than Monica Lewinsky could ever imagine. I used to think that JFK was the unquestioned world champion in that arena but now I am convinced that Bill Clinton makes JFK look like a Boy Scout. And what about Hillary? Aside from having the ‘smarts’, which is good and necessary for anyone deciding to run for office, she is without a doubt the greatest, the most constant and the most incorrigible serial liar to ever walk the face of our planet, bar none. Added to these accomplishments are the many never ending and never explained joint financial shenanigans between their so called foundations and certain foreign entities that are not necessarily friendly towards our country.
It’s been said that the higher up you climb on the ladder, the more people there are shaking it. There should be added the proviso that the higher up that you can go on the ladder, the more Bullshit you can get away with. Case in point. This past weekend it was made abundantly clear, to anyone with half a brain, that there are two sets of rules or laws in this great country of ours. One set is for anyone who is sufficiently high up on the ladder, who lives within the beltway or is connected to such person who lives within the beltway or is someone who is so high up on the food chain of either political party and who has been ensconced there for so long that they think their shit smells sweet – and the other set of rules or laws is for everyone else. It sure looks that way to me and anyone else who has half a brain. Just think. If you or I were able to work for the government and pulled any of the shit that Hillary did, we would not only go to jail but would be lawfully precluded from ever getting another job with the government. But – we do have two separate sets of rules and laws. And this just the beginning because I have a lot more to say regarding, “WHAT THE #@*%”. Stay tuned in.