Better for who?

So Ann Romney says her husband will work hard to make America a better place to live. For most issues, this can be debated. Whoever gets elected will make America better for some, worse for others - on MOST issues.
Economy - better for millionaires, or better for middle/lower class
Sexuality - better for women, or better for strict Catholics
Healthcare - better for consumers, or better for insurance/Pharma
But on one issue, there can be no debate. Mitt Romney's energy policy is strictly fossil fuels. He will increase production of these fuels and decrease or eliminate funding for alternative energies.
THIS WILL MAKE AMERICA AND THE ENTIRE WORLD WORSE FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Even the old energy company executives will have a worse world, as the air gets dirtier and the weather as a whole gets more volatile and violent.
So she may have told the biggest lie of the whole damn convention!

Dignity

"The dignity of work" This is something we hear the Republicans talk about a lot, but what do they mean? They certainly seem eager to get everyone off any kind of government help, but how far are they willing to go with that?
Bills have been created to increase minimum wage, expand the reach of mandatory sick leave, even give more maternity and family leave, and they seem to be consistently against them. Don't these things increase the dignity of work? How dignified can you be when you work all week and can't support your family, when you can't take a day off when you are sick or your family is sick? Are we giving dignity to hard work when we withhold these basic human comforts?
It is most definitely not enough to just say "get a  job" when we don't make ALL work dignified by showing the workers we value their labor.
So, I say, match your deeds to your words or just shut up.

In the weeds

For many of us, I think Rep. Akins' comments didn't make much sense when we first heard them. I mean 'legitimate rape'? You can't get pregnant from rape? These ideas seemed pretty much out there. Where could he have gotten such information and theories?
Now, however, the sad truth has started to come out. Unbeknownst to the mainstream, the fringe has been busy constructing an entirely separate reality for the sole purpose of hardening their hearts even more to the unfortunate women who find themselves in the position of needing an abortion after a traumatic event.
The fact is, they are accusing young women who come seeking an abortion of 'claiming' to have been raped to get around the restrictions they put in when they thought they were being hard enough on them in the past. Now they have decided they have to be harder.
It is beginning to look as though what they have been accusing Planned Parenthood of all along is what they are doing: Making a business of abortion. The 'leaders' of this movement must keep the 'followers' keyed up and angry so they will keep sending in money. So, they have to keep going farther and farther as they begin to win their cases, or the enthusiasm will wane.
God help us if they do succeed in making abortion totally illegal in this country.
What will they possibly do next to keep their power?

Hooray for ordinary

America can be a hard place to live in for the un-ambitious. So much stress is put on success, big, glamorous success. Anti drug ads even show people who stay 'clean' becoming executives or ballerinas. How about accounting clerks, or even sewer workers? Wouldn't that be good enough for us? Staying off drugs, working for a living, owning a home and raising a family? Does one HAVE to be rich and famous to even feel beyond shame?
Be all you can be, give it all you have, etc, etc.
Why not give your work part of your all and your family and friends part of your all, your hobbiesand interests part, and so on? Is that such a bad life? Don't we NEED everyday workers to do all the un-glamorous jobs? Can we afford to make them feel like failures?
I think this is just more conservative propaganda designed to make everyone not rich feel inadequate and pump up those at the top even more.
American will start getting on the right track when we start rejecting this thinking.

Guns, etc.

The latest of America's shootings took place in my home state, not far from me. This was a little different, because it was not a random massacre or a hate crime. It was someone pushed to their limit by modern society. It was someone who wanted to keep their house. I don't know the details, but I imagine they had lost a lot before that and just couldn't take any more. The constable didn't deserve to die. He didn't make the decision to take the house. He was doing his job, a very unpleasant job, but under current law a necessary job.
How, in God's name, can a country with so much suffering be even remotely considering electing people who have publicly and proudly stated that they will make it worse?
The wealthy simply have to be made to do more. Ideally much more, but at least more. How can the country have such debt when CEOs are making multi-million dollar salaries? Can't people see the connection?
In the fear and confusion of these times, some people will shoot out the window and some will put trust in scoundrels. Both are misguided and dangerous acts.

Dietary politics

OK, so no Chick-Fil-A or Papa Johns Pizza, but we can eat all we want of General Mills cereals.
Hey, it's healthier anyway!

Free speech?

So, once again we hear the right complaining because the exercise of free speech brings consequences. Right, like they never boycott someone they disagree with. Everyone is certainly free to speak their minds in this country. If you doebt that, check out some of the extreme, hateful things you can read on the internet. The government cannot force you to shut down, or shut up. But that doesn't mean you can just say whatever and no one will challenge you. Chick-Fil-A is clearly free to speak - not only are they still in business, but they even had a very successful appreciation day. AND we are FREE to boycott them.
In fact, I would say this is a good time to review ALL your purchasing decisions. Tighten up and try to make sure you are supporting your values as much as possible.
God Bless America!