TRUTH? Fa Gedda Bout It!

I am full to overflowing with the continuous BULL$HIT that has been flowing for the past year (or longer, it seems) and has solidified in Tampa this week.  I live not far from the middle of the famed Interstate 4 corridor.  In case you haven’t heard of the pivotal political pull of Florida’s Interstate 4, I have one question.  Have you been living in a cave?  Interstate 4 traverses my lovely state from Tampa on the west coast to Daytona Beach on the east coast.  Orlando is smack dab in the center of the state.  And the westerly winds, blowing in from the Tampa area, have carried the malodorous smell of ripe, putrefying BULL$HIT that is being heaped by the tons in Tampa this week.  For you cave dwellers, you may be asking “Why is there so much BULL$HIT in Tampa?”  Well, the Republican National Convention has been going on since Tuesday (delayed from Monday because of the threat of then tropical storm Isaac).  Isaac missed Tampa, no doubt because of all the devout Christians in town for the convention who prayed the storm away.  Isaac instead slammed into Sodom & Gomorrah, otherwise known as New Orleans, Louisiana.  I guess Republican governor and evangelical Christian, Bobby Jindal couldn’t gather enough folks to help with his prayers.  Or maybe he just spent too much time on television complaining to the world how President Obama wasn’t doing enough to help the state recover from the storm that had not even hit them yet.  

 

I’ve decided to throw in the towel and stop listening to the projections, prognostications, predictions and multi-faceted interpretations of this presidential campaign.  The massive amount of lies, half truths, and talking in circles by the various surrogates, candidates, public relations puppets has finally pushed me too darn close to the edge of the cliff.  I know who I’m going to vote for.  In fact, I’ve known for nearly a year.  It is crystal clear to me that those on the other side are not interested in facts or the truth.  They prefer listening to BULL$HIT that supports their distrust and absolute hatred of the opposition.  If these people can’t or won’t seek out honest politicians who have integrity, there isn’t anything I can do to change that.  The dice have been cast.  Minds are made up, except for a very few.  It is going to come down to how many people will bother to show up to vote and, of those, how many will even be allowed to vote. 

With the new voting regulations in over 30 states, many former voters – some who have been voting regularly for 40, 50, even 60 years – will be turned away.  Why?  Because they don’t have a valid state photo ID.  Why?  Because not everyone drives a vehicle, not everyone has a checking account so they haven’t needed a photo ID or they don’t have a passport.    They may not know they need such an ID.  They may not have the extra money to order a new birth certificate since they no longer have their original one.  They may not have access to a computer to order the birth certificate, or a credit card to pay for it online.  Many rely on public transportation, some may work two or three jobs and only have one day a week – probably Sunday – off.  Many of those folks relied on transportation provided by their church following Sunday services on the last Sunday before the official election day.  However many, if not all, of those 30 some states with new voting regulations have shut down weekend, early voting.  They’ve cancelled evening voting in many places as well.  

 

Let Freedom Ring.  America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.  At least that is what we tell ourselves and the rest of the world.  Well, surprise – that’s another load of BULL$HIT.  These states are worried about VOTER FRAUD.  Of course, during George W. Bush’s 8 years in office, about 196 million votes were cast.  Fraud cases?  That was a whopping 86 cases.  Who wouldn’t worry?  Maybe the SANE people?  Maybe the people who not only respect and uphold freedom, but also believe that the right to vote is the bedrock of our democracy?  Those would be the folks who remember that people were beaten, imprisoned, force-fed and even killed so they could WIN the right to vote.  

Aaron Sorkin can say all this much better than I ever could.  Here is a video from his latest series, The Newsroom, which sums it all up.

 
UPDATE: I just wanted to add another Newsroom video about The Tea Party & the Koch Brothers: