Steve: You Are A Bastard and I Deserve More Rights Than You (Because I'm Straight)

Yesterday, I witnessed something that has me very disappointed in the lack of moral character of what seems to be the majority of citizens in the southeastern United States, specifically many of those who call themselves "Christians".

A local newsgroup I follow asked their "question of the day", which was inquiring as to whether we thought that homosexuals should enjoy the same rights and benefits of heterosexual couples, and should therefore be allowed to legally marry, as opposed to being limited to "civil unions".

First, let me clear the air for those who "don't understand what the big deal is" and who think that "civil unions should be enough for homosexual couples".

The social security administration does not recognize civil unions as being equal to marriage. If a homosexual couple (or a heterosexual couple, for that matter) enters into a civil union and pays the same exact social security taxes as you and I, when one of them dies, the other is denied the death benefits of their partner because they are not married. Furthermore, the fact that homosexual couples are required by law to pay the same social security taxes as the rest of us, yet are specifically excluded from receiving the same benefits upon death for their partners, means that we have effectively turned homosexuals into a sort of modern day slaves.

Sure, we may not be cracking a whip and forcing homosexuals to perform unpaid labor, but what we are doing is benefiting from the funds taken from them and put into a social security system that denies them from equally taking part in the benefits provided. That is not only wrong on a constitutional level (discriminates and denies equal rights to those who are equal contributors) it is also wrong on a moral level.

Furthermore, civil unions do not allow for the same rights when it comes to probate and other legal matters that those who are married enjoy and apparently take for granted.

The low-level, uneducated, ill-informed, and just blatantly ignorant responses that spewed from the keyboards of these southern "Christians" in response to the question posed by this newsgroup literally made me feel sick to my stomach. I'll give you some examples of what I saw:

"No, gays should not be allowed to marry, because the bible says that marriage is between a man and a woman."

(I've never seen that passage in "The Holy Bible". Perhaps they are referring to some other type of bible? After all, the word bible is a generic term meaning "book". Perhaps they were referring to the Bass Fisherman's Bible? Who knows?)

"No, I do not agree with giving them the right to marry, because homosexuality is against nature."

(It's been proven that homosexuality is not only natural, but extremely common in the animal kingdom in general, not just among humans, and increases in animal populations as they rise in number in a given area. This suggests that homosexuality is not only natural, but quite possibly nature's way of preventing over-population.) Here are some links if you care to educate yourself on "nature":

• National Geographic article: Homosexuality Among Animals Stirs Debate
• Wikipedia article: Explains that there are more than 1500 species of animals with members engaging in homosexual behavior.
• An article from the Huffington Post by a lesbian Christian woman on her natural attraction to women.

and the very tired, poorly considered little rhyme:

"No! Gays should not be allowed to marry! God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve!"

(I couldn't get anyone to explain to me who or what they believed created Steve. Apparently poor Steve is just the bastard child of unknown origin. If your name is Steve, you should be aware that you are illegitimate in the eyes of these types of Christians. I say "these types" of Christians, because I have plenty of Christian friends who do not believe that certain cited passages in their religious text give them the right to practice bigotry and discrimination against any other person, even if they are believed to be "engaging in a sinful lifestyle" since they acknowledge that they, themselves, are sinners.)

What many of us attempted to do in an admittedly futile attempt at using logic and reason with illogical, irrationally thinking people, was explain that this was not a religious question, but a political one, and that religion has no place in determining whether we pass a law granting equal rights to equal contributors or not.

This country was founded on the principles of religious freedom. That means that no religion is to have any more favor in the eyes of the United States Government than any other, since that is the only way we are able to ensure religious freedom for all. By definition, this requires that religion not enter into our decisions for passing laws. If you can't come up with a non-religious reason for disallowing equal access to benefits and social institutions, then you don't do it.

Repeatedly, we asked those making bigoted comments to come up with an argument that did not bring religion into the picture. Not one person was able to do so.

To be fair, there were many Christians who acknowledged that, while they believed it was morally wrong for couples to live together as homosexuals, that it was "not their place to judge". There were also Christians who said that they didn't believe that "The Holy Bible" actually said that homosexuality itself was sinful, but that "The Holy Bible" was referring to the raping of men in Leviticus 18:22 and not to consensual sex between two men.

There were also many homosexual Christian members who spoke up and pointed out that "The Holy Bible" does not appear to say anything about homosexuality specifically, but that it has been misinterpreted by homophobes over the years.

Many of us also pointed out that not so long ago, interracial marriages were forbidden in America, because religitards believed that it was a sin for people of two different races to marry (including whites and hispanics mixing together, or native Americans and whites, or any combination thereof).

Sadly, the discussion that could have (and should have) taken place regarding the legal issues surrounding gay marriage were not able to occur, because so many were so distracted by their religious fervor they were unable to even consider the issue as it pertains to the U.S. Constitution. If they pretended to try to do so, it was only to say something ridiculous such as:

"The constitution doesn't guarantee gays the right to get married."

Yeah, and the constitution doesn't guarantee Christians the right to get married, either. What it does do, is forbid any person to be denied any right based on the religious beliefs of themselves or others, or the lack thereof, which is exactly what forbidding homosexual marriage does.

Then there's the asinine claim that homosexuals are asking for "special rights" by wanting to be able to have their marriages "legally recognized", since their "choice" and request for the right to marry someone of the same sex is "in addition to" their existing right to marry someone of the opposite sex.

Again, this all assumes that homosexuality is a choice, which, if you are educated about chromosomes, biology, and sexuality, you recognize is just as absurd as saying that your race is a choice. After all, you could undergo medical treatments to alter the color of your skin. (Yes, that's supposed to sound ridiculous. That's also how saying that homosexuals can get "therapy" and "change" their sexual preferences sounds to intelligent, educated people.)

The rampant, blatant ignorance displayed by those making these comments was disturbing enough, but the truly disturbing aspect of it all is the fact that so many people feel entitled to dictate to the rest of the world what should and should not be allowed based on their own religious preferences.

These same religious folk whine and bellyache when prayer is not allowed to be a mandatory activity for children in the classrooms of public schools, as though their right to religious freedom is threatened by not allowing them to force it on others. Can you imagine what would happen if we allowed Wiccans to engage in spell-casting in the public classrooms of America? There would be RIOTS! And yet, these same people who would riot in that situation feel it is their right to dictate to other people what they can and can not do according to U.S. law based solely on what they believe their religious text tells them.

Folks, this is why religion is viewed as such a potentially dangerous threat to the U.S. Constitution, to America itself, and to the safety of humans everywhere. Tyranny begins first with the attitude of superiority over others, whether genetic or religious superiority, then progresses from there with the next step being an attempt at control and dominance over those viewed as inferior or "wrong". This is what happened with Hitler, it is what happened with the Jihad and the terrorist attacks on our country, and it is the basis for every form of tyranny which has ever existed.

It is amazing how many people who live in a country founded on the principles of religious freedom are using that same religious freedom to limit the rights of others who practice a different religion, including homosexual Christians who do not interpret the very vague wording in certain passages of "The Holy Bible" as having anything to do with homosexuality as we understand it today.

As an American, I believe it is my duty to expose this behavior for what it truly is: an attempt at religious dictatorship, and regardless of your religious beliefs (if any), it is your duty to ensure that you do the same. Your ability to enjoy the basic rights of being an American depends on it, as does your right to exist as an equal human being regardless of gender, economic status, ethnicity, or religion.

A.

Southern Baptists, Gays, Immigration, "The Drug War", and "Some More Stuff"

When I'm this busy, it takes something pretty big to get me to drop everything and finally put into words a variety of thoughts swimming around in my head for weeks now. There have been things I feel the need to say about a variety of issues, and this is one of those times when they all somehow come together, seemingly unrelated issues that turn out to be *very* similar and related.


First, I was disgusted today when I read this article about how the "Southern Baptists" are refusing to abide by "The New Testament" policy that the focus on other people's sins is not their place. Instead, they continue to refuse to apologize for alienating the GLBT community because they believe they "lack sexual purity".


Do these folks not realize that there are other sins that they are guilty of? (You know, that thing where Jesus said "Judge not, lest ye be judged." or "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." ? I'm pretty sure that applies here.) What if another "brand" of Christianity (and believe it, they are brands, and this is an INDUSTRY) made it a point to focus on the sinfulness of gluttony in those who are 15 pounds or more overweight, constantly singling out the obese as sinful and "lacking dietary morals", despite the fact that there are just as many biological issues surrounding obesity as there are homosexuality...


What if all of the church ladies who wear makeup and "purty" dresses and shoes and carry expensive purses were singled out as being "vain"? Certainly in the early days of Christianity they would be stoned to death for wearing what they wear to church today. Of course, the church won't risk alienating these people. Why? Two reasons: 1) they are a huge source of income for the church and 2) they are perceived to be "less sinful" because the church is prejudicial against homosexuality because they find it offensive on a *personal* level. Sadly, they seem oblivious to their own hypocrisy and lack of perspective.


Then, just a few hours later, I read this article about how the same organization is "calling on Southern Baptists to reject bigotry and to minister to all people, regardless of immigration status". In other words, they want to make a way for illegal immigrants to become legal citizens so that they can win their loyalty and continue to collect massive quantities of money from the many (grateful) illegal citizens in this country when the offering plate gets passed around.


Really? "Reject bigotry"?


Bigot: "person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices"


Again, I ask: Really? "Reject bigotry"? Except for the bigotry against homosexuals, apparently.


No, if your opinions were based on "The Holy Bible", you wouldn't single out homosexuals separately from illegal immigrants, the obese, the vain, or anyone else. You would offend them all, regardless of how much money you would lose in the offering plate. Or, you'd grow up and get over your personal prejudices and stop cowardly hiding behind "The Holy Bible" in order to justify them.


You see, the perception is that homosexuals have no morals, so you can't "minister" to them (a.k.a. get money from them in the offering plate) but you can most certainly get some of that cash the illegal immigrants are getting paid under the table (often by government contractors), because they are very vulnerable and easy to convince of supernatural claims and the need to pay the church in tithes for the "salvation" that might allow them to become citizens one day. The fact that they reject the opportunity to apologize to homosexuals and embrace illegal immigrants within the same 24-hour period says it all. This is such a cartel-like move on the part of the southern baptists it makes my skin crawl.


There's really nothing more that can be said about the subject that will help anyone see the insanity here if they don't already, so now I'll move on to immigration...


A couple of months ago, I had my window busted out while parked in my mother's driveway in a suburb of Atlanta. They took my G.P.S. and I'm 98.5% sure it was the same group of Latino people who were walking along blatantly scoping out my mother's house and my vehicle as I was loading things into it earlier that day in preparation for my return trip home. They were riding bikes, and I heard one of them say to another, "This is the first time I've ridden a bike in 10 years." I immediately figured that they had probably just stolen the bikes they were on, NOT because they were Latino, but because I have seen them before, and they are very obvious when they are staring at your vehicle and watching you load things into it. They did the same thing last year when I was there - I've seen them several times - and you'd have to experience it to understand just how unnerving it is that they are either oblivious to the fact that it is clear that they are scoping out property they'd like to get their hands on or perhaps they just don't care whether you know that's what they're doing or not.


I filed a police report, requested that they begin patrolling the area in my mother's neighborhood regularly, and then made the long drive home with no window (it was quite chilly that night - it was shortly after the devastating storms hit in April and it had gotten quite chilly for several days).


Twenty years ago, when my mother first moved there, it was a very nice neighborhood - a new subdivision, everyone knew everyone else, there was a neighborhood watch, and most of the residents were quite diligent about fighting against any negative elements that might threaten their residential oasis.


This included a proposed gas station and convenience store that they fought against being built at the entrance to the subdivision. They battled it out with the zoning board for many years, until finally many of the residents just gave up and moved away as the area became over-run with non-English speaking folks and the crime rate went up. WAY up.


It's tempting to assume that the crime rate went up because the non-English speaking people who moved into the area are dirty rotten scoundrels with no respect for other people's property, and that is at least partially the case. From tearing down my mother's fence, to graffiti sprayed all over her beautiful home (the police cited HER for having graffiti on her house!) to her central heat and air unit being stolen (or important components thereof), the list of violations of HER rights has become so long I can't even remember it any longer.


Now that the convenience store has been built for a number of years, there is a path worn through her yard as they cut through it to get to the sidewalk that leads to the store down the road. They throw trash into her yard on a regular basis, and they act as thought it is their right to do whatever they want.


Having said all of this, I don't believe that all non-English speaking immigrants to this country behave that way. I know quite a few of them, and the ones I know would never even consider behaving that way. Then again, the ones I know are legalized citizens, and that accounts for much of the difference.


And now, I'm going to tell you something that you're probably not going to agree with, something that may actually make you think I'm insane to the point of qualifying for an institution. Still, I'm going to tell you what I've realized, and what we all need to realize if we want to clean up our country.


We need to open our borders.


WHAT??? Did I just say that? What on EARTH has gotten into me? Why would I say such an asinine thing?


Because it's true.


Hear me out. (Ok, "read" me out.)


Even if you choose to nullify the very valid point that we had no more right to this land we call America when we came here than the "illegal immigrants" have today, the fact is that we have very little control over the flow of illegal immigrants into this country. Similar to the drugs that flow seemingly freely into our country despite billions of dollars poured into the "drug war" in an attempt to keep the drugs out (that isn't working either), those who believe in the promise of a better life in America are going to continue to find a way to get here.


It doesn't matter how much money you throw at preventing them from getting in, how many walls you build, how many border patrol employees you hire, they are going to find a way to get here.


As far as I'm concerned, ANYONE who is willing to abide by the laws of this country and work for a living in order to provide for themselves and their families has the right to give it a whirl. I look at the numbers showing how many people (in this country LEGALLY) have been on welfare for generations, and I realize that they are not as worthy of being here as those who are willing to risk their lives to get here just so they can work for less than minimum wage, and they do it NOT so they can buy an iPhone, but so they can send money back to their families living in squalor in conditions so oppressive that people die every day trying to get somewhere - anywhere - but there.


So here's what we have:

• illegal immigrants coming onto American soil in huge numbers
• working for below minimum wage, often for cash with NO taxes being paid by them OR their employers
• sending our money back to their country to support their families, since their families aren't able to make it here safely

The numbers are staggering. I'm not going to waste space on them here. If you are so inclined, feel free to do your own research and see for yourself just how mind-numbing the bleed of money out of this country due to illegal workers truly is.


What have we done in response? While continuing to make it illegal for them to be here, and continuing to refuse to allow them to work legally while they are here, we have now begun offering them and their families free medical care, along with other taxpayer supported social services. Not only are they not paying for the benefits they are getting, but we, who are not able to get the same benefits, are paying for them to have them.


This has understandably created a lot of ire toward illegal (and even legal) immigrants, but those who truly deserve our ire are our government officials who have allowed this insanity to spin out of control. Those who have a mentality that it is their right to break into my vehicle and steal whatever they want feel entitled to do so because it is the only way they know to get what they need and/or want, and in fact, in many cases it is, because they don't even have the option of getting a job flipping burgers. We've made sure that they don't, because, you know, we value those burger-flipping jobs so much that we want to protect them at all costs against anyone here "illegally" taking them away from people who don't want them and refuse to take them even when they have the ability to get hired.


I had a friend who claimed he couldn't find a job last week, and I made seven (7) phone calls to area businesses. All seven of them are hiring, even though school is out and those looking for summer jobs already have them for the most part. Trouble is, they pay minimum wage and are not desk jobs. You actually have to break a sweat in order to get a paycheck.


If we are going to extend benefits to these people, it makes no sense not to also extend to them the ability to earn a living through working LEGALLY and paying taxes. If you don't understand that, then just go on somewhere else and don't ever read my blog again. Please.


Personally, I don't think it's the government's job to provide these services for any of us. Anyone who lived during The Great Depression will tell you that there was a time when there was no welfare system or Social Security program. People who were hungry relied on churches and other charity organizations for assistance. They didn't have it easy, but they did survive.


Instead of social service agencies that take kids away because their parents weren't able to provide for them, the parents did right by their kids by finding someone they trusted to care for their children while they worked their butts off so they could earn enough money and get back on their feet to the point where they could take their children back and continue on as a family.


There was no public housing, no ability to walk into a store with a food stamp card and buy junk food and steak when those who work for a living are not able to afford such things. You took whatever food people gave you, and it wasn't necessarily food that you wanted, but it kept you alive.


Instead of getting high on crack and meth that were allowed to "walk" onto the streets like they are today while "undercover drug operations" are underway (just EXACTLY the same way that guns were allowed to "walk" into the hands of terrorists as you've heard recently), people, even if they were alcoholics, still got up and went to work when they were able to find work, and they DID look! Why? Because nobody had enough money to hand out to winos begging on the street. They were too busy trying to provide for their own families. If an alcoholic wanted alcohol, they had to work for their money like everyone else.


Not so today - there are always people who mistakenly believe that handing out money is "the Christian thing to do", that somehow all "good Christians" are obligated to hand over anything asked of them. I'm not an expert on scripture, but I'm pretty sure even those who wrote the stuff that later was assembled into a book we now call "The Holy Bible", if they had known the future, would have clearly stated that anything that might possibly contribute to the demise of an individual or enable them to continue feeding addiction that was destroying them was clearly a no-no. But people don't get that. Ergo, we have many religious folks who comfort themselves with the ridiculous notion that handing out money excuses them from opening up their home to someone who needs a safe place for their children to stay until they can get treatment for an addiction or get a job or whatever it is they need to do to get their lives in order.


No, it's far easier to hand out money to feed the addiction (and fund the drug dealers' profit margins) and let the government take your money as well so they can pay foster parents, many whom are only providing the bare minimum required to get the money and some who are abusing children entrusted to their care, and tell yourself that you've done your part by handing out crack money and paying your taxes.


Newsflash: There are MANY programs available, many run by PRIVATE organizations, that will provide and CAN provide BASIC food needs to ANYONE AND EVERYONE in this country who is hungry. Those who are going hungry are doing so because they are not seeking food, and are instead seeking money. If you want to help, give someone a gift card to a grocery store or fast food restaurant, or keep snacks in your car (as I have done) to hand out to those who claim to need money for food. THAT is the only thing one should ever be doing when it comes to beggars on the street, and anyone who has done social work will tell you that is the first thing you are taught when training for such work.


Arrange a taxi ride for them to a shelter, (pay the cab directly), where they WILL be provided with a place to stay and food and job assistance. This is the ONLY way they will ever be able to get back on their feet. It's less convenient, but far more effective and less destructive to the person you claim to want to help. And, if "Jesus" is "testing you", you'll win more points by putting out the effort than you will by throwing money at them and going on your way.


Now, back to the immigration issues: there seems to be some confusion among many American citizens that opening our borders means less jobs for Americans. I assure you, the opposite is true.


How so?


Most of those who are coming to this country to take a shot at the American dream are willing to work VERY hard for their money. If their families were able to accompany them here, the money they earn would STAY here, and there would also be tax revenue from the same income from which we currently get NO tax revenue. There would be less immigrants on welfare, and more of them buying cars and homes and spending money in stores. Remember that thing they call "spending money to stimulate the economy"? Yep. It applies regardless of who is doing the spending, as long as it is taking place on American soil in America's businesses. This spending also CREATES JOBS! (YES, jobs that pay more than minimum wage - jobs in manufacturing and the auto industry, since immigrants would be able to afford to purchase electronics and vehicles instead of sending all of their money back to their home country).


Many Americans I know who are on unemployment have no desire to do the work immigrants are doing here every day, because it's too physically demanding for too little money in their minds. Besides, they make more from unemployment. The job market is very competitive, and it would stay competitive if we opened our borders, but the people coming here do not have the ability to even qualify for the kinds of jobs from which most skilled workers are complaining about being laid off, much less manage to get hired over Americans with a firm command of the English language. Unless, of course, the company realizes that they can pay them less and avoid taxes by engaging in illegal employment as they do now, while our borders are (at least in theory) "closed".


The drug war takes even more money out of our country. The majority of drug money ends up in Columbia and Afghanistan with a few other countries receiving the rest. Very little of it stays here. Again, this is all tax free.


The more things you make illegal "for our own good", the more money you take out of the country via the black market, and the more power you take away from the individual. The mentality is that we need our government to babysit us and tell us what to do, because we can't be trusted to use good judgment. Those who truly can NOT be trusted to use good judgment certainly don't make better decisions because what they are doing is illegal.


I'm not saying that we should make it legal for anyone to get and take any drug available, what I'm saying is that if we're going to fight the drug war, we need to do it right. Stop wasting time on "drugs" that grow in the soil, however UN-benevolent you believe them to be, and focus on those that are truly killers (prescription drugs in the wrong hands). If you'll get rid of the drug problem beyond the gate, you won't have to worry about "gateway" drugs.


Currently, the drug war is more about undercover operations that take YEARS to carry out, with BILLIONS in drugs "walking" onto the streets while law enforcement agencies watch. The fact that they are taking notes in an effort to document what is happening in the hopes that it will enable them to make a major bust later down the road does not protect anyone from dying of a drug overdose NOW. NOW is the problem. Five years from now the problem will be worse if we don't deal with NOW. If EVERY SINGLE ILLEGAL DRUG (or illegally gotten drug) was taken off the streets IMMEDIATELY upon discovery without engineering for future "huge drug busts" and the glorification of self-aggrandizing law enforcement departments and prosecutors, we would have FAR more "petty" drug cases, and far less "impressive, newsworthy busts", but far fewer drugs on our streets.


One wonders, after listening to the outrage over all of the assault weapons allowed to "walk" during undercover operations, how anyone can miss the fact that THE SAME EXACT THING HAS BEEN HAPPENING WITH THE WAR ON DRUGS FOR DECADES!!!


I know quite a few folks in law enforcement, and most of them agree with most of what I'm saying. They are just as frustrated as the rest of us, but their hands are tied, because they take orders from their supervisors, who are part of the machine that is a huge part of the problem.


Imagine if you went to the emergency room because you were hemorrhaging from a gun shot wound, and they refused to put a tourniquet on the bleeding until they could discover who shot you. You'd be dead by the time that happened. The same thing is happening with the drug problem.


We get a tip on a drug operation, spend loads of money investigating over a long period of time so we can "make a huge bust" and "send them away for a really long time", all because we are TERRIFIED of having to bust the same people over and over. And what's the problem with that? NOTHING!!!


What we haven't done enough of is:

• take as many small quantities of drugs off the street as possible whenever possible, even if it means they'll be doing it again tomorrow, instead of letting huge quantities "walk" in bits and pieces like we currently do in the hopes of making a huge bust down the road - it's not the huge quantities that cause people to die of an overdose, it's the small quantity an individual gets that is too much for them that kills them - just ask Katie Granju (When was the last time you heard of someone overdosing on 500 kilos? Never. Because it takes a very small amount to kill someone. So why aren't we focusing on the small amounts instead of letting them go in order to "catch a big one"?)
• continue taking those same small time dealers down (it's easy - law enforcement already knows who is doing it and where, and typically they'll keep doing it the same way in the same places, as drug users and dealers are creatures of habit)
• put the money currently poured into "long-term undercover drug investigations" that allow mass quantities of drugs to "walk", and instead put it into investigating and gathering evidence in cases where someone dies of a drug overdose so the dealer can be held responsible and charged with HOMICIDE, which will get them sent away for quite some time WITHOUT allowing mass quantities of drugs to "walk" onto the streets.

Think about how many murders are solved by hard-working law enforcement officers. Very few of them involve "undercover operations". Most of them simply involve the drudgery of good, old-fashioned detective work. It's not glamorous or exciting, but it works. People are interviewed, questions get asked, cases are built, prosecuted, and the killer gets sentenced.


There are SO many drug cases it's damn near impossible to put the participants in the drug game away for a significant length of time (especially when the justice system is putting people away for non-violent and petty crimes rather than dealing with those issues in a more effective, efficient way).


However, it's much easier to put someone away for a long time with a homicide conviction when held responsible for the deaths of those whom they supply with deadly drugs. For every ONE supplier you put away for 10-25 years for homicide instead of running them through the system merely as a supplier, you'd likely eliminate about 100 deaths from overdose caused by that ONE dealer alone. Yes, I know there would be a dealer there to replace him or her, but they, too, would get sent away for homicide for a very long time with the first successful conviction of homicide of one of their customers, and the treadmill you are currently working that requires you to run impossibly fast for an impossibly long time suddenly slows waaaaaaay down and becomes more workable.


Oh, and remember my statement earlier that we need to open our borders and allow those illegal immigrants who are here to work legally, regardless of their citizenship? THEY are a big part of the drug cartel, because there is no alternative for them other than illegal employment. It would dramatically reduce the supply of workers in the illegal drug market if you allowed those who are here to work at legal jobs. See? It really all does tie together.


Yes, I know a lot of this sounds ludicrous. That's because we've been led to believe that there is no other way to fight this war. Step outside of the box you've been stuffed into and take a look around. The way we're doing things now is clearly no way to fight this war. Making an attempt to fight the war more effectively with laws ALREADY ON THE BOOKS that are NOT being utilized in order to accomplish what I have just described increases our odds of improving the situation immensely, but first we must break through the barrier of deeply ingrained habits in our law enforcement agencies, habits that are not effective.


We also need to stop tying up law enforcement with things that shouldn't even be crimes... illegal things that should be civil issues rather than criminal issues. Get law enforcement out of private business transactions. (We need to get back to "Buyer beware." instead of catering to people who get ripped off because they are greedy and buy into something that is too good to be true, then cry "victim" when it doesn't pan out. Let the victim sue the guilty party, but don't cater to their desire for revenge. Justice and revenge are NOT the same thing.)


If you own a small business, be more diligent in checking out your suppliers (I got ripped off by several and it was my own fault for not doing my due diligence, and it ultimately led to a series of events that landed me in financial ruin and prison.) Don't take checks when there are far more reliable ways of making payment (debit cards, cash) and then rely on law enforcement to get involved with your private business transactions when you lose money on a bad check, all the while griping that you don't like the government in your business when they tell you who you have to hire. Keep honest people honest. Stop relying on the government to hold your hand and be your nanny for things you can handle yourself, and then maybe they'll have the resources to deal with the things you can't handle yourself.


Someone shoplifting from your store? Ban them from the premises and don't allow them back. Sending a World War II veteran to jail and/or through the court system for allegedly stealing $5 worth of strawberries from Walmart rapes American citizens of the ability to be safer from those who are killing our children (and us) by dealing drugs, carrying out home invasions, and raping and murdering our citizens.

Like it or not, we can't solve all of our problems through government intervention. If we want to save our country and our way of life, we're going to have to grow up as a country and PRIORITIZE.


You can't buy every car you want, and we can't put everyone in jail who pisses us off.


If you understand this, I hope you'll share these ideas with others. It's time to start THINKING again. We can't afford the luxury of continuing to be mentally passive and accepting as truth everything we are told by those who are no more qualified to run our country than we are, and in many cases, so out of touch with reality that they are less so.


We've got people taking pictures of their private parts and sending them to random strangers online when they should be intensely focused on doing the jobs we are paying them waaaaay too much money to do in the first place. Of course, if you and I engaged in that kind of behavior, there would be no talk of resignation. We'd be fired on the spot.


The double-standards that allow judges to walk for the same crimes the rest of us go to prison for are what is wrong with this country, but so is violent behavior toward others inspired by our frustration and feelings of helplessness. Start holding government employees responsible by RELENTLESSLY pursuing justice when they don't like this woman is doing, not by shooting innocent (or even those you perceive to be guilty) people in grocery store parking lots. Show the government that not all people who are fed up with their shenanigans are nut jobs in danger of becoming mass murderers, but intelligent people who know how to tattle on them to their bosses, who happen to be you and the rest of us, and shame them if necessary by using your first amendment rights to free speech. Believe me, the words of truth can be far more damaging (and effective) against self-righteous, hypocritical people than any bullet, and they don't tend to turn the culprits into martyrs, either.


If you don't know how to use words as effective weaponry, then find someone who does and share their words. But please, stop using words (even the words of religious texts) to create hatred and prejudice toward those you fear, don't understand, or who make you feel uncomfortable because they are different than you (or perhaps you fear becoming like) because doing so undermines the very people you may one day need in order to survive yourself.


A.