Tuesday, July 3, 2012

And a happy Fourth of July to you too!

Tomorrow is the fourth of July. Where will you be? If you are in a war zone you probably won't be reading this. If you are water skiing you might miss it too. The thing is I have often thought that the Fourth of July is more than just one day. It is state of mind. It is the mind that escapes  tyranny and oppression that understands what Independence Day really is.

We spent a lot of blood, sweat and tears building this country. It was to be a free nation of people who would not be constrained by their leadership, but would be empowered by those who they empowered to lead them.

So while you are flipping your burgers tomorrow trying to escape what is happening in this nation politically, remember, it is ours, it is about us and it is about freedom. Freedom from people who want to make corporations the same as us, have the same rights as we do. It is about freedom from people who poke and prod us to make more money for themselves and pay less taxes on it than we do. It is about that damn broken, jiggly grill made in China that is only two years old and not well made. The one that you keep having to replace over and over because since just about every company that used to make a decent gas grill has their manufacturing overseas.

If you think you are being manipulated by big business,  you are.
If you think that ignoring an election or politics in general is going to help,  you are wrong.
If you think you understand what Independence Day is and you might, you need to preserve your rights.

They are being taken from us. We are marketed at, we are targeted, we have less consumer rights now than we had 20 years ago and even less than we had 40 years ago. What do I mean? Well, you used to be the person who decided if you were interested in something. Now corporations decide and you just have to fend them off if you don't want to be solicited in the mail, on the phone and in your private time. Who gave the corporation the right to advertise illness to you so you knew what it is, advertise a prescription for it and tell you to "ask you doctor". We are continually bombarded by an industry run amok. This is nothing new, but now it has become a no holds barred situation for the public. They want our business, but they have taken our livelihoods overseas.

If you think this next election is not worth voting in, think again. We cannot assume either party has our very best interests at heart, but I certainly understand why the Republicans really do not. I get it. I own a business. I used to be one. I get it, but they have gone off the deep end and their ideas and strategies and conservatism are not working for anyone, but a small, tiny, sliver of Americans. Not for the rest of us. Not for the rest of us and we need to understand that, know and act on it. I personally feel that they can no longer be trusted to do what is right. In my town they have a lot of power.

I have seen that power close up and personal. I have witnessed a man who was the head of a major transportation agency, about to be fired, commit suicide the day before, so that his wife could collect a pension that he would not have collected because of his financial stealing. Everyone turned a blind eye, he had a great funeral and everyone played nice and his wife got his pension. That is Republican power close up and personal. He cheated on his wife with several homes, several women, left millions of dollars in debt and yet she got something that really belonged to tax payers. Was that supposed to be her reward for playing along? How come the board that was aware of all this and some who might have gained from it all not replaced? Good questions.

So that is one microscopic little piece that might give you a hint of corruption and what it does. How it works. Government, and some of these people reached the highest offices in the state that were in on this, in that party, were all a part of it.

Independence Day, what a concept! If we could just stop giving our freedoms away, stop squandering the structure of honesty and integrity of this country, some tampering with the laws so they fit the big money, special interest at the expense of the rest of us, we might stand half a chance of making the American dream still come true for those in our generation and the next and the next, who are still hanging on with hope. It is not pretty. War never is. Just ask those who have fought for this nation, this 200 year plus experiment in democracy.

So flip that burger, drink that beer, stay cool, and remember to vote. Vote against the powers that are against you.

For some light reading on the corruption described go to:
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2010/12/09/pagano-girlfriend-found-by-wmaqs-phil-rogers/
or:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-05-09/news/ct-met-kass-0509-20100509_1_phil-pagano-metra-rail-line-pageant

And there is plenty more where that came from, have fun!

Copyright 2012 by SheilaTGTG55

1 comment:

Jason said...

I VOTE!!! That way I can say without telling a fib, "Not my fault, I voted for the other guy!!" :D