A Sunday Buffet

(Blue Nation in Review/Facebook)

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In the 3 minutes I watched "Meet the Press" this morning Rand Paul (on the subject of immigration reform) talked about children being "dumped" on our side of the border. Dumped. He used that word twice. Turned my stomach, his total lack of compassion. These children weren't DUMPED, they walked unbelievable distances and took horrifying risks to get to what they or their parents or guardians believed would be a safer place for them. These children are not garbage, and they were not dumped, Rand Paul. 

 

 There's an empathy deficiency in the Republican Party.   An epidemic, in fact, with no cure in sight.

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Today's TV air is flooded with Koch Industries ads that look something like a career day promo.  Seriously, it sounds as if all we need to do is pick up the phone and ask for a job.  That is, after we say "thank you" to the Kochs for all the "good food, clothes, technology..." they provide for us all.  Please spare me.  Although not sure which is more misleading, I'd almost rather see the creepy Uncle Sam-in-the-examining-room ads they supported in an effort to ensure failure of the Affordable Care Act.  Didn't scare too many people away, did it?

 

 Does the Koch Industries ad get your goat or is it just me?

 

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I'm still furious with the people who got us into Iraq over a decade ago, caused us to invade and occupy another country that—at the time—had no "weapons of mass destruction" or plans to harm Americans.  Terrorists?   The media (not just Fox) is still inviting these people  to opine on the current situation in Iraq.  I feel as if my head will explode when I see the people who duped us into the invasion called in as "experts" on Iraq.  Paul Bremer?  His ineptitude while in Iraq is widely known; he made things far worse!  And we're supposed to listen to him?  Please.

 

Before the invasion I made a sign on bright yellow poster board and joined a protest march to the State House in Columbia, SC.   I felt strongly that if we invaded Iraq and killed innocent civilians—not to mention our own military—WE would be terrorists, certainly in the eyes of the Iraqis.  And next day I was quoted as saying that in the largest daily newspaper in the state.

 

As I drive between my Lowcountry home and the South Carolina Midlands, I pass a federal penitentiary.  As I approach it, I say a prayer for those incarcerated and those who work there.  Then I cap off the ritual with a shout from the car window:  "Save room for Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and all the people who got us into Iraq!"  I doubt they'll ever need a cell there, but it's deeply satisfying to say those words out loud.  I haven't varied the message or missed an opportunity to do this, going or coming, for nearly nine years—even when a puzzled passenger was with me!