Are You Vegan?

Are You Vegan?

            While reading a really short article today on Clinton having become a vegan, I happened to take a look at the comments and someone posted that he might not have won his first election had he been vegan then and possibly not even now. You know, they are more than likely right, at least in the politically correct windblown climate we have this last several years. After all, folks are still calling Obama “an elitist” because he graduated from Harvard on a student loan, and in trying to create jobs through government interjection he is “treasonous”. How dare he, or anyone for that matter, suggest that we need to “invest” in this country in order to reap a harvest of jobs. We must stay the course of coddling the super rich while undermining the poor and middle class and God forbid, we call the banks that got us into this mess onto the carpet.

            It really makes me wonder what it is folks need in their lives when they are lured into some of the talking points that are the spoiled meat of the debate these days and then carry those points as if it were their own child. For instance, the talk around a town hall near you seems to be about “job killing”, and before that it was “the trickledown effect”, then onto the debt ceiling when the trickle dried up. Have you ever wondered what happened to that “trickle down” angle that was so prevalent in 2009 and ‘10? We were almost climbing out of the “great recession” back then, but the Bush tax cuts were about to expire and we were talked into leaving them in place because it would create jobs through “trickle down”. Right; those cuts had been in place since 2001-2003 when they were created by the special powers of the White House in front of behind our backs.  Those tax cuts sure did not stop this country from losing nearly a million jobs a week in 2007. Nor did they stop the slowdown of the recovery, but we have been steered away from the accountability of it all as we watch politicians sit back and watch it not work.

            At this time the right handed campaign rhetoric with how religious this country is, or not has taken center stage…I ask: does it really matter where humans came from, really? I am here, therefore I am; I really do not care if I jumped out of the pages of the Bible or got lightning struck as an ameba 200 million years ago. The fact is I am here and content to wonder at the beauty of it all and speculate on how it all came to pass while loving my fellow man; at least most of the time. After all, has any theory been “proven” to be the one? I would love to know how things came to be and I have a mix of theory and theology myself, but I do not consider it, well…Gospel. Why are we even bringing the speculation into politics? Want to see what happens when you bring religion into government…head to Iraq, or the Gaza strip. It does not work there and is not working here, already.  

I hate to say it, and it is sad, but Christians can’t even firmly decide who is “right” when it comes to Biblical interpretations among them, neither can the Muslims decide what faction is correct when it comes to the meanings of the Koran and how to apply them.  That is precisely why the wise men that set this democracy up opted for banning religion in the halls of justice and decision making.  The Quakers had vastly different views than the Protestants and the Lutherans and still do, so why invite that contention into congress? God knows we have plenty without it these days.

Without a doubt “Job killing” has to be one of the more loose cannon terms for the “out of bullets” problem we are having today. Some Republican candidates are slinging that term around for every ill and piece of legislation that has come down the pike, handily dispatching any notion of support for anything other than tax breaks for everyone. This country will never get on its feet without investment from all of us, and this government…period. You know, this economic recession hit every country in the free world and some that were not, and China pulled out of it in a few months…while we are wallowing in the halls of Congress they are investing in their country. They are not “anti”-Chinese or “treasonous” for doing so, they are saving their country. They are putting people to work and that creates a full government coffer. While we let these people that know nearly nothing of economics argue until the white elephant waddles home about the damn debt ceiling, China is growing by leaps and bounds and to a large degree with our money; money that we could be investing here. Instead we are paying interest and we have been talked into sitting on our hands, thumbs up until Obama is driven from office, for reasons only their hair dresser knows for sure.

If you want a great example of what is going on in front of behind your back, try looking at our domestic oil and gas fields and coal production in Wyoming where a fair share of the leases are owned by China and numerous other countries. While we are for sure in trade deficit with China and can use some exports to offset nearly all our goods coming from them, it really irks me to hear some politicians talking about “drill baby drill” yet we are selling away our resources and the energy companies are plotting as I write to enlarge ports on the Columbia River to be closer to those markets. Along with the port plans are big plans for railroad use from those coal fields with tracks that are already clogged when this country is working. We are not necessarily benefitting from all the drill rigs or the money they generate. The 1870 something mining laws virtually give away minerals as it is and now we are leasing to other countries with no return other than polution? China has its’ own coal, but why dig when you can own another piece of the American rock and for cheap? Beef and other renewable products are satisfying some of the trade deficit, and we need to do a better job of trading, but do we really want to give up finite products like natural gas and oil? When it is gone, it is gone. My question is: Why are we waiting for it to be gone before we move on to renewable energy in the first place? Is it a “right” or “freedom” to be driving a gas car instead of an electric one?

Alas, we are stuck in this catchy phrase void that absolutely does not amount to a hill of beans in the desert. There is a smart assed movement to outdo the current administration and each other right down to the old guard Republican undermining the new and you can bet your sweet bippy, not one of them will reveal they are vegan because they might be viewed an “elitist” or worse...whatever comes next.