... Same Sex Marriage

I have had many years to develop my feelings on marriage. They'll probably surprise you.

Homosexual marriage? Who cares!? I do not.

If gay people want to be married, and receive all the benefits and hindrances that come with marriage, I say again - who cares? I do not.

I do have questions, though ... what about the old spinster sisters?

Huh? What in the world am I talking about?

Okay, it's like this:

If you want to give rights and benefits to two gay people simply because they cohabit, then you must consider all of the people that cohabit in the same way. Two old spinster sisters that have lived together for most of their lives, who share in the expenses of living together, deserve the same rights as those two homosexuals. A son that stays home and takes care of his mom, three college roomies that cannot afford to live alone, but cohabit and share all expenses should be awarded the same benefits.

The 'unintended consequences' of a gay marriage ruling, especially at the federal level, would open up almost all 'cohabitants' to the same privileges and penalties. Is this where we want to go? If so, there are only two real solutions.

Eliminate special rights to those that are 'married' or, to ensure 'fairness,' give all the same rights to every adult American that cohabits with another adult American. Call it marriage, domestic partnership, or whatever the phrase of the moment is, it is all the same.

If homosexuals want to say they're married, then they should be able to say so, but all Americans must be made aware of the aforementioned unintended consequences.

Who gets a say ...

Who gets a say anymore? We don't, and that's a fact. In this republic, we are supposed to be given a choice about what our lawmakers do with our laws. Oh, sure, we get a say about "Proposition x," or at least whether it passes or not, but do we really get a say about what's in it? No, not really. All we (usually) get is a yes/no choice. An elected official writes it, sends it to their proofers and lawyers (to obscure the real message in legalese, mostly), and then present it to us. There are lots of problems with that. As often as not, they're written so that you have to vote yes to get it to fail, or vote no to get it to pass. Have a look at any legislation up for perusal. They are so obfuscated that anyone that is not a legal expert has trouble understanding it.

Did you get a say about Congress' new pay raise? How about their retirement rules or health care system?

No, you did not. Neither did I. Their pay raise was automatic, all they had to do was NOT vote on it and it passed. What the hell kind of scam is that?

For the most part, our elected 'representatives' have forgotten to represent us.

Two examples:

1. The great state of Texas has passed a law that all cigarettes must be 'self-extinguishing.' I don't remember ever having heard this until after it became a law. Did people that smoke get a say?

2. States keep raising taxes on cigarettes really without giving anyone a say. Smokers just get told they'll have to pay more money.

Sure, we get 'votes' on giant issues like gay marriage and the like, but those sneaky little bastards that run our country (instead of us) pass rule after rule and law after law without even gauging what their constituents think, or whether they oppose it.

There are rules regarding this, so token efforts are made to present the information to us, but you have to buy a paper, or ensure your satellite TV has local channels (that you have to pay for) in order to see them. The presentations are, again, so obscured in legal language that it is almost impossible for Joe Bag O'donuts to decipher.

What do we do about it?

Nothing.

We are too busy just trying to make it in these trying times (that they put upon us) that we don't even have the time to see what they're doing. That's exactly what they want.

Can you believe we actually pay them to mislead us? There are some in 'congress' that (kind of) try, but they don't really care either. I even like some of them, but I would gladly fire every one of them, personally and face-to-face, if I had the power (you know, the power our Governing Documents supposedly give us)?

That power is yours, if you are willing to take on the responsibility. But, there's a problem with that, too. We can only elect people that are 'nominated' for the positions. That means only rich people. I don't care whether they're Dems or 'Pubs or Independents, they have to be rich to climb the political ladder. For many of them (lots of them, actually) politics is not about representing, it's about making it a career. Many of them have done nothing but politics for their entire adult lives.

They have no experience in the real world of dirt and exhaust and health care premiums. They have absolutely no business being in the positions they hold, because they have no idea what the rest of the country does for a living, yet they make all of our decisions for us. Men (mostly) that have spent 40 or 50 years being 'congressmen and -women and have no other experience are 'leading' this country. They are leading us to ruin, and we're doing nothing to stop it, other than whine.

There is no reason why this nation should be in dire financial straits, excepting that career politicians have screwed with our dollar and our economy to the point that it collapsed. Now we have the largest resurgence of socialist ideas that we have ever had ... and THAT goes against every principle of our constitution.

This is no longer a government by the people and for the people. It is a government by the politicians, for the politicians. No one else is ever going to benefit from our kind of government again, except the government itself.

When last I heard, our congress had an approval rating of eleven percent (11%).

Eleven percent? That means that 89% of our population disapproves of our elected officials.

I wish for the people of the Unites States of America to call for a "Vote of No Confidence" in our elected government. From the President and President-Elect of the United States, all the way down to the most junior members of the house and senate. They must be led to understand that their job is not to rule us, nor do what (in their opinion) is best for us. Their job is to administer this country. Paper pushers and label stampers.

This is not their country, it is ours. They work for us, and need to be reminded of that.

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