Extreme Partisans and the End of Democracy

Those who stick to their party's platform, regardless of whether individual components in said platform benefit their personal needs or seek to strip them of their rights, will be the death of this Republic. Both the Democratic and Republican parties are bottom-dwelling scum suckers. But what's worse than the politicians, are the people who follow blindly.

Two examples from both sides of the aisle

The Left Wing
Gun control. It doesn't work. The media perpetuates lies and misinformation. Chicago and DC have such strict gun control that it was determined to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and yet they also have terribly high rates of gun homicides. Why? Well, when you disarm the law-abiding citizens, the criminals and psychos still get guns because they don't care about laws, and they run around unopposed terrorizing a disarmed populace in their homes and on the streets.

They say we should look to other countries, such as European ones, for how we should do things here. Germany has had multiple school shootings, despite their strict gun control. Norway had one of the worst mass shootings in history, and they have strict gun control as well. These countries are also not democracies. In Germany you can go to prison for displaying Nazi iconography or even speaking about it. That's not freedom of expression. That's freedom of expression within the confines of what the government deems acceptable. And this is what they want here for us.

Some common lies perpetuated by the media is that no one needs a semi-automatic gun and that they are not used for hunting. The people who say that typically don't even know what a semi-automatic is. First of all, they are used for hog hunting, feral hogs being extremely dangerous, one does not want to be fiddling with a bolt while being charged by a boar. Secondly, the Second Amendment gave the people the right to resist tyranny, foreign or domestic. If you think that defending our homes and lives with guns is a lost cause, then how in the hell did some illiterate farmers defeat the most powerful empire on earth. Extreme left wing liberals trust their government and police more than they trust their fellow citizens. I think that's sad. I'm all for training of people who wants to keep and carry guns (in fact, I think every law-abiding American of sound-mind should be trained in the safety and use of guns). If I'm able to vote as a citizen, I have the right to own any damned gun I want.

The press also perpetuates the myth that sane, law-abiding citizens might "snap" suddenly, and if they have a gun then they'll go shoot up a place. First of all, sane people rarely snap. Sure it does happen that some might, but most people who "snap" were already unstable to begin with. And if they don't have a gun, and want to kill a bunch of people, then they'll find some other way to do it, and chances are, it will be way more deadly than if they had an AR-15. Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people with a Uhaul, some fertilizer and common household chemicals. Are we going to outlaw rental trucks because we are afraid someone else might do that? Of course not, that's absurd. So is outlawing guns.

Another lie perpetuated is that if a gunman walks into a classroom and the teachers are armed, that it will be a bloodbath. Hello?! There's a gunman, and a bunch of unarmed people. What do you think that is already? Do you think the gunman is there to play ring-around-the-rosie with the kiddos? If a gunman walks into a classroom and the teacher is armed, your child has a better chance of walking out of there, rather than the alternative.

The Right Wing
Minimum wage: The Republicans will have you believe that we don't need a minimum wage. There are Republican party members that barely make wages above the poverty line that will fight tooth and nail to ensure that rich Corporations don't pay any taxes, despite the fact that they have no health care and their paycheck doesn't make ends meet. Why is this? Well, for one thing, they're afraid that the Democrats want a nanny state and are going to take away their Second Amendment rights. So they have to make a choice, and they choose to sacrifice what might be in their economic best interest for something that is more important to them.

The lesser of two evils, is still evil and right now, the only viable parties for election are both evil.

Disagree with any of these hard-core left or right wing people, and you will get yelled at, called names, and if you're on facebook probably unfriended. They don't want to hear that they are wrong, that there might be better alternatives to what they are proposing. That they have bought into lies. You can present evidence to the contrary, and they re-iterate what you've just proven is false. They think you are mad at them because you disagree with them, because they certainly are mad at you. What happened to rational discourse? What happened to not surrounding ourselves with people who think 100% in lock-step with us and ditching anyone who dares step out of the box of our belief system?

If we breed ideas based on the people with whom we associate, then associating only with people we already agree with will lead to ideas that are born of incest. Nature has proven that that leads to no good end.

You have the right to your own opinion, but you do not have the right to make up your own facts. I blame the mainstream media and the politicians for this one. They do that all the time, and so it has rubbed off on everyone who has weak critical thinking skills. They think that because they agree with something, or if it sounds like it might be good or plausible, then it must be valid. Lies and mis-truths are never valid.

I suggest that everyone reassess why they believe what they do on a daily basis. Get to know your neighbors, you're more likely to have interaction with them than some jackal that gets sent to DC to represent you. If you can't trust your fellow citizens, because you have this idea in your head, perpetuated by the twenty-four hour news cycle that everyone else is stupid/crazy/incompetent, then I ask you to tell me exactly what is democracy? Democracy is rule by the People. But the media and the politicians have turned the People into an entity that can't be trusted to make their own decisions, or to keep themselves safe by using common sense. Look at your appliances! You can't even open your top loading washing machine when it's on now, because you might hurt yourself. So much for dying anything! That's just one instance of this usurpation of our rights in the name of "safety" and most people have unthinkingly gone along with it.

Well, I have news for you. One day soon, you're going to wake up and realize that you live in a tyrannical police state. You're not going to know exactly when it started, because rights are never taken all at once. They are eroded away on a slow scale, so slow that most people don't even notice. And quite a few won't even notice when they are completely gone, because they are content to live with a jackboot on their neck in exchange for an illusion of safety.

"As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air – however slight – lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness." --Associate Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

The Inadequacy of Lesser Equality

A presidential candidate that I admit I've never heard of (probably because until recently I have avoided reading the news like the plague) has openly trampled all over the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States. I'm sure he's prime oval office material. I mean after all, Gee Dubya wiped his ass on the Constitution, so why not have Herman Cain wipe his feet on the amendments.

Herman doesn't seem to think that Muslims deserve to be able to build a mosque in which to worship. Would he think the same if it were a church that was being built? Of course not. The state of Tennessee is one of the most backward-racist-homophobic-stupid-bastard states in the country. I wonder if it escapes Herman's menial thought process that forty years ago he would have been sprayed with water hoses if he'd have dared try to run for the office of dog catcher, much less the office of President of the United States.

Of course he's also apparently itching to wipe his ass with Article Six too. I hope he doesn't mind that Gee Dubya already used it for toilet paper.

"On the Glenn Beck Show today, the host asked the Georgia Republican about his refusal to appoint Muslims. Cain told Beck that he would be willing to appoint a Muslim only “if they can prove to me that they’re putting the Constitution of the United States first.”"

Too bad Herman Cain doesn't put the Constitution of the United States first.

"...no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

Let Her Get Fat: Saudi Arabia clamps down on Gyms for Women

You know, I'm fascinated with countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran, where their women allow themselves to be treated like chattel. Yes, I say "allow" because, well they do. The only way that anything will change there, is if there is a movement against the powers that be. Sure, people will die, but if you're not willing to die for your freedom, then you'll never get it. If enough of these women would say that enough was enough and take to the streets en masse and demand their rights, they'd have them. But you see the problem is complex, because many women there like things the way they are. I don't understand it at all, sort of like how I don't understand how any woman who has half a thought in her head could be in the Republican party, but I digress.

Besides not being able to drive, women in Saudi Arabia are apparently not allowed to work out either. The government has been cracking down on gyms, and doesn't even allow women or girls to participate in sports in public schools because they "might lose their virginity." Yes, this all goes back to some twisted fucking sense that a guy needs a virgin, something I never understood, because do you really want someone who has no idea what they're doing? But that's another post entirely.

Saudi Arabia clamps down on unlicensed female gyms
Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:45pm EDT

By Asma Alsharif

JEDDAH (Reuters) - "Let her get fat!" is the slogan women in Saudi Arabia are using to challenge a clampdown on female-only gyms. Unhappy at the growing number of unlicensed female gyms, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs recently closed two in the Red Sea city of Jeddah and one in the city of Dammam on the Gulf Arab coast for not having a license...

Female participation in sports has long been a controversial issue in the kingdom, with physical education banned from public girls' schools and clerics issuing religious prohibitions on female participation in sports... "The idea of female fitness is non-existent within our government," said Fouziah Alouni, a prominent women's rights campaigner...

The result has been high rates of diabetes and even bone frailty among women, which the Ministry of Health says it wants to combat. "Football and basketball are sports that require a lot of movement and jumping," Sheikh Abdullah al-Maneea, member of the official Supreme Council of Religious Scholars, said in a religious opinion published in Okaz newspaper Thursday.

He said such excessive movement may harm girls who are still virgins, possibly causing them to lose their virginity... Women's gyms can only exist inside hospitals as "health centres" supervised by the Ministry of Health but prices are so high, at least 1,000 riyals ($266) a month, that only the affluent can afford membership.

Cheaper versions have sprung up under name "beauty salon" or "studio" but now their future is in doubt. Madawi Al-Hassoun of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce said the chamber has been trying for three years to find a government body prepared to take on board licensing female gyms. "Some people don't like women to go out of their homes. This is a common struggle for female businesses in Saudi," she said.

(Editing by Andrew Hammond and Paul Casciato)

In fact, Saudi Arabia is the only country not to allow any women to participate in the Olympics, and yet they're allowed to compete. I really can't believe that the IOC allows that. Everyone was protesting allowing China to host the games, but it's a real toss up when it comes to human rights violations between the two. I can't decide which one is worse. I didn't see anyone protesting about Saudi Arabia's participation. And you know what? Our government is really good friends with Saudi Arabia. We invade Iraq, a secular country, and what happens? They're now ruled by religious fanatics. America FTW! Not.

I have read other articles in the past, where women who would go jogging would get harassed by the religious police. I suppose that a lot of why they allow themselves to be denigrated to second class citizens has to do with brainwashing. When you're told all your life that you are nothing, that you are not equal, you will more than likely believe it. It's a pity really, that you deny half your adult population any rights. What if one of them, if they had been allowed to do so, came up with the cure for cancer, or any number of other things.

Indeed, organized religion has been a drain on this entire planet. It has set us back a thousand years. The Catholic Church burned people at the stake for putting forth scientific ideas that contradicted the Bible, or in the case of Galileo forced him to recant his "errors" that the earth revolved around the sun. They would have burned Galileo if he'd been willing to die for what he believed and refused to recant, but he wasn't. I suppose he was content to go back to his house, where he spent the rest of his life under house arrest, and ponder on how the joke was on the Chruch, because the earth revolved around the sun anyway.