The Red/Blue Paradigm

After asking the Pope to be canonized yesterday, I may need his services sooner rather than later. Apparently since I challenged the old-school 3D glasses most people choose to view politics and government through, yesterday I was a bigger villain than Bane when conversing with my 'friends'. Based off the responses I received, you would think I was the one inciting attacks on our embassies around the Middle East. Sorry I'm not sorry for rejecting the red/blue paradigm used to hoodwink otherwise intelligent, thoughtful people in babbling lemmings repeating propaganda slogans and skewed facts which would make Josef Goebbels proud. As for my conversations with the Pope, I'm hoping I can get him to change the dates for Lent to coincide with election season in the United States. Then I'll just have to convince 92% of my Facebook friends to give up posting about politics and the world will be a better, and smarter, place.

Imagine walking into your friendly, neighborhood, heart-healthy McDonalds and gazing famishedly (I know it's a made up word all you friendly, neighborhood English majors!) at the menu to discover there were only two choices of artery clogging goodness available for you to order. You could order a Big Mac with Fries and a 40 ounce drink (unless you live in NYC, then it's only a 16 ounce drink ... welcome to the land of the parched!) or you could choose a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese, fries and the aforementioned drink choices. Both look kinda the same ... both taste kinda the same ... both cause you to get fat and lethargic if you eat too many ... both slowly your arteries with cholesterol sludge until you die. The differences are very subtle - one comes with special sauce and one slice of cheese, the other with no special sauce and two slices of cheese - so there is no authentic CHOICE for you to make. You're going to end up with a very unhealthy, generic tasting meal either way you go. Now take off your Red/Blue paper 3D glasses and look at the American political system. Uh huh .... no need for Avatar style special effects to see the comparison leaping off your computer screen now!!

I can hear friends of both sides of the aisle groaning right now, "Kerr .. you're soooooo wrong. There are tremendous differences between the two parties!!" Really? Name them .... Republicans want to cut taxes on high income taxpayers, cut social spending, continue to spend on our military like the Russians and Chinese are ready to invade North America next week, keep gays from getting married and eliminate abortion. Democrats want to increase taxes on high income taxpayers, expand social spending so no one needs to work, cut our military spending to a more responsible level given the threats we face, allow gays to get married and keep abortion as an option for women bearing fetuses. Both parties are viewing reality through those paper 3D glasses and the picture sucks! The reality the United States lives in today isn't represented by either party and here's why:

Taxes: The tax code needs overhauled badly. Close to 50% of the U.S. population doesn't end up paying any taxes at the end of the year (in the form of income tax refunds). The wealthiest Americans pay the largest chunk of our income taxes, but by percentage many of these wealthy individuals pay about the same as a family earning the median level income. There are so many loopholes in the tax code - many of which only benefit the highest earners - no one pays the actual percentage listed by the IRS. The tax code needs a complete re-write, something neither party has proposed or seriously looked at doing.

Social Spending: The ideas of the Progressives (originally Republicans but flipped to Democrats with FDR in 1932) to use the cumulative wealth of the United States to benefit the less fortunate were in theory a giant leap forward for the general welfare and common good of our citizenry (two goals listed for our government in the Preamble to the Constitution for my Red -especially - and Blue friends). However the obligations of our current social spending programs never anticipated a "Baby Boom" situation, and politicians on both sides have refused to remedy this oversight even though they have had 30+ years to do so. Social programs are going to need serious modifications if they are going to continue to exist much beyond 2030 ... something neither party has yet presented a clear plan to do.

Military Spending: The United States annually spends more on our military than the next 22 nations COMBINED! Yet our GDP is not higher than the next 22 nations combined .. another sign our politicians really didn't pay too much attention to the fall of the Soviet Union. We cannot continue to spend on our military like we have an unlimited amount of money (BTW ... do you know who owns the bonds used to finance our post 9-11 military spending spree???? China). Unless you want to bankrupt our country like the last years of the Soviet Union. What did Santayana say? Somebody failed history!

Gay Marriage and Abortion: In another failing of history, both parties have forgotten how attempts by our government to legislate morality have played out in America. How well did Prohibition go over? How is the war on drugs going? Exactly. Laws and lawmakers should focus on laws which protect life, liberty and property and leave the moral philosophy to philosophers. Somewhere, a friend on the Religious Right just burst a blood vessel in his eyeball due to skyrocketing blood pressure.

If you haven't figured out by now, I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal ... which option at McDonalds is best for me? So I'm left to choose between the lesser of which option will kill me quicker. Based on the dominance of the Religious Right in the Republican party - who I think forgot the whole life, liberty and pursuit of happiness part in the Declaration of Independence - I'm really left with very few healthy choices for my political meal. Instead I will blaze away with facts - not cooked to my liking - showing the ineptitude of both parties and just make sure I'm very careful on the Ides of March. Et tu, Brute?

All this politicking has left me not time to discuss the Reds and the Hallelujah Chorus which accompanied Dusty Baker's decision after 144 games to see someone other than Drew Stubbs as the daily centerfielder. I'm sure Dusty will change his mind soon ... gotta get Stubbsy goin'!

I'm out of politics for the day .. and none tomorrow. Cross my heart and hope to die!!