Some Days You Gotta Rant

There’s a real problem in America: an inexcusable lack of focus. The US is slipping as a world power because its citizens are breeding ignorance and complacency. Intelligent voters, complain that there are no candidates worth supporting or worse that they “can’t change things.” In the meantime, the unwashed and ignorant masses are banding together to push backwards reactionary policies (note to disenchanted non-voters – change goes BOTH ways). Those who aren’t apathetic have become narrowly and obsessively focused on single issues: abortion, homosexuality, race, yuppies, and of course moral superiority.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/06/cuss.free.zone.ap/index.html

A cute little town in California is banning swearing for one week to remind its citizens to be courteous. I have nothing against spreading the love. I do however take issue with the fact that this policy was pushed by a 14 year-old boy. In my experience, independent thought begins when the apron strings have been cut. Kids can become passionate about anything and believe whatever their trusted elders tell them. My cousin convinced his much younger step siblings that he invented bread. For the next three years they would always refer to bread as Craig’s bread. Kids are impressionable (read: dumb). Shame on anyone who hides behind children when pushing their own agendas.

Where does the lack of focus enter in? Notice anything problematic about that happy little photograph of father and son bonding in matching T-shirts? Why yes, they are eating french fries. Instead of drawing attention to a REAL issue such as Americans literally dying because they’re eating fake food, this town decided to focus on the evil that is swearing. Oh thank God we have people wise enough to take away our SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED words of ill intent. So the next time someone cuts me off, I won’t swear, I’ll be courteous and say something like, “I hope you burn to death in a three alarm fire.” Because that’s not swearing, clearly I’m being courteous. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills that swearing is ever an issue. If you take offense to something it should be the intent of the speaker and I’m sorry but unless they’re threatening to harm you/your family/your property or committing slander, freedom of speech wins that one….unless of course the uber-conservatives decide we’re safer when we’re free from the perils of free speech.

In the immortal words of Peter Griffin…you know what grinds my gears? You America. Fuck. You.

Abortion I’ll touch on for a brief moment because it makes me too angry if I dwell on it. The problem pro-lifers have with abortion is that it “kills babies.” Fine. If you want to look at it that way, whatever. My issues with pro-lifers is three fold: 1. Instead of vowing to never have an abortion, you want to make sure no one can ever have an abortion. What right does anyone have to tell a woman that she has no say over something growing inside of her? 2. The “moral” conservatives refuse to teach safe sex practices that would prevent unintentional pregnancies. That just doesn’t make sense. If thousands of unwanted pregnancies are aborted, why not do everything you can to reduce unwanted pregnancies. 3. Pro-life conservatives support the war in Iraq. How can you vehemently renounce abortion and claim an unborn baby has a “right to life” while supporting a war that denies that right to Muslims? Could it be that you assume Americans are or should all be Christian and by saving an American baby you’re saving a Christian? If that’s the way you want to play, I have a solution. If pro-lifers get their way and abortion is banned, I say all unwanted newborns should be raised Muslim. You know, just to keep things fair.