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Saturday, February 01, 2003

To the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia: Rest in Peace, and may God speed you to heaven.
posted by Mr. Ripzaw at 1:08 PM
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Friday, January 31, 2003

I've been putting together a list of political figures I trust and respect, and ones I don't. Here's what I've got so far:

Trust:
John McCain
Colin Powell
Ralph Nader (conditionally - I think he's fighting exactly the problems that need to be fought, and that no one else will touch, but I often disagree with his policy aims)
Ted Kennedy

Don't Trust:
George W Bush
Donald Rumsfeld
Joe Lieberman

On the Fence:
Bill Frist
John Kerry
John Edwards

I'm not sure exactly what the purpose of this list is. I was looking at it and doing a little self-analysis. As far as my political support goes, I suppose I'm somewhat left-leaning, which actually surprised me to an extent. However, if I could appoint a president right now, it would unquestionably be Mr. McCain of Arizona. What I want out of my government is something that will protect the weak from the strong, the minority from the majority, and the future from the present, without resorting to attacking the strong in the name of the weak, the majority in the name of the minority, and the present in the name of the future. I suppose that I am left-leanign when I think about it. I support increased taxes at the highest brackets, and a great reduction or elimination of them at the lowest. Here's what I think: I think that a lazy, stupid bum living in the wealthiest, most powerful nation in history deserves a living.

There, I said it. I think that everyone who has an idea and works hard deserves to benefit from that dedication. And I think that if someone is making $50 million a year from that dedication, and he's obliged to give half of it to society, he's still benefitting to the tune of $25 million. Someone will cry that the government is stealing his money. Well, the government has to get its money from somewhere, that's a fact. And if taxation is stealing, so be it. If we have to steal, then I'll take rob from the rich and give to the poor over the converse.

As for giving the money to the poor, why do they deserve it? Because they're human. No more needs to be said. If you see a poor lost dog wandering around on the street, you'd take it in and take it to a shelter, maybe even give it a good home, regardless of the fact that it's done absolutely nothing for you. Is a human not worth that consideration? But let me take that analogy a step further. If you don't take that dog in, and it continues to wander the streets, maybe one day it catches a disease, and it spreads from there. Maybe it gets desperate and starts knocking stuff over looking for food. Maybe it starts biting people. Do you see where I'm going here? Leave the poor to their own devices, and you're looking right at the breeding grounds for crime, drug traffic, epidemics, urban blight, and a score of other disasters. What would be the real benefit of cutting these problems off at the bud? A good portion of urban ghettoes could be reclaimed for business. The competent worker pool would expand as people get off the street and out of dead-end jobs and get an education. As crime decreases, police departments are able to drastically improve their efficiency, we're all safer, and land values increase across the board. Tell me, does this not sound like a good return for the wealthy elites who financed it?

This is all theoretical, but I'm convinced that a guiding principle of our nation should be to limit inequality. If we really committed to it, I think we'd find that not only could we better the situation of the poor at little comparitive cost to the rich, but that contrary to the trickle-down theory, the benefits gleaned from raising society's baseline would lead to an economic boom Reagan could only dream of. It's an idea.
posted by Mr. Ripzaw at 9:26 PM
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Today's wisdom from my father...

On hearing about John Ashcroft's project to put a sheet over the nude statue The Spirit of Justice in the Justice Department lobby: "Ironic, but appropriate, that he's putting a shroud over the Spirit of Liberty."

On how you're supposed to say Dwarf instead of Midget and Developmentally Challenged instead of Retarded: "As soon as any term for a minority group becomes commonplace, whether or not it's supposed to be offensive, they decide to be offended by it."
posted by Mr. Ripzaw at 8:42 PM
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Wednesday, January 29, 2003

So, we need to balance the budget by cutting taxes, save the environment by cutting down the forests, solve our social problems by rerouting social spending to the church, and attack Iraq, because otherwise they might give their phantom weapons of mass destruction to the terrorists that hate Saddam about as much as they hate us. So says our fearless leader, anyway. I'd emphasize fearless, because it's clear he is. Courage is overcoming your fear. If you have no fear, you're either indestructable or stupid. And, as September 11th showed on one front and global warming, ozone depletion, and all our other forms of environmental suicide show on another, we are not indestructable.

Mr. Bush, in your position, you have more to be afraid of than anyone else I can imagine. If you love this country, you should live in constant fear, day by day, of causing it harm. Before you worry about what "the terrorists" might do, think about what your actions WILL do. You show courage by taking action, but you show far greater courage by refusing to take self-defeating action, especially when we know your moneyed backers are demanding it.
posted by Mr. Ripzaw at 4:23 PM
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