On a "Marxist" Pope and Foolish Voters

You might want to sit down for this.  We're about to have a look at Pope Francis through the eyes of Rush Limbaugh—non-Catholic expert on the Pope and his plans.  There's a short audio with text of Limbaugh's opining over at Media Matters for America.  Will get you a link.   http://mediamatters.org/video/2013/11/27/rush-lashes-out-at-the-pope-over-critique-of-in/197083

 

Ask Limbaugh "Is the Pope's Catholic?" and he might just tell you the Pope is Marxist.  He says at first he thought Pope Francis was "going a little overboard on the common man touch..." but then he figured there might have been "a little bit of PR involved there."  However, when the Pope issued a paper urging world leaders to "fight poverty and growing inequality" he really got the bloviator's attention. 

 

Once again I'm proud of this Pope.  He clearly sees the emperor is wearing no clothes, and he's saying so.  I love that he's talking about unfettered capitalism.  Someone (a well-known world leader without a conflict of interest) must talk about it.  In fact, we all should be talking about it.  Too many of our elected officials are beneficiaries of the system, their re-election campaigns funded by some of the biggest corporate capitalists there are.

 

Even as Walmart addresses ways to get government assistance in its orientation for new employees,  the corporation is raking in huge, huge profits.  While corporate Walmart and its owners enjoy great wealth, customers are asked to donate money to help their needy (underpaid) employees.  What's wrong with that picture?  Plenty!   By underpaying their employees, Walmart and other corporations have become the "welfare queens" Teapublicans and right-wing talkers accuse the working poor of being—when they bother to acknowledge that the majority of the able-bodied poor are working.  Sadly,  no matter how hard they work, many underpaid workers are unable to work their way out of poverty.   That just might be the kind of thing the Pope is talking about.  Dear Pope Francis, thank you for taking a stand on income inequality and the colossal greed that has led us to unfettered capitalism.  Capitalism is great—until greed replaces simple profit-making and becomes its driving force.  When that happens, there has to be some voice—some plan, some action—to turn that around.  This gentle Pope might just be our man.

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Forward Progressives will introduce you to Susie Q. Conservative.   Her story concerns a question I ask myself regularly:  Why do so many Republicans/Teapublicans vote against their own best interests?  How can they denounce government programs and services, which in many instances helped them get where they are today?  http://www.forwardprogressives.com/voting-against-their-own-interests-the-common-story-of-the-republican-voter/

 

A case in point from my own life experience:  There's this young married couple, and the husband's a Limbaugh listener and Fox watcher.  They both believe in "less government."  They have far more faith in their faith than in the bureaucracy.  However, the man in this household had trouble getting work, and I'm fairly certain he drew unemployment benefits (as was his right to do).  I'm also fairly certain at some point they benefited from SNAP (aka "food stamps.")   I know for sure their health care was covered by Medicaid.  They wanted a big family, even though he had returned to school to prepare for a different kind of job.    Meanwhile, she continued working part-time.  During the time they were covered by Medicaid, (and as far as I know they might still be covered), the husband had emergency surgery and the wife gave birth to three babies.  She'd like another one.  The church didn't pay their large medical bills, the bad ole government did.

 

But still they vote Republican.   Don't trust President Obama—could be a Muslim, isn't a real American.   Besides, they don't believe in "government."  It totally blows me away when I hear stories like the one I just told.  There are far too many stories like that.  Stories like that put my home state of South Carolina in the red column.  How do we change that?  Is it mostly a need to educate the populace, demonstrating they're voting against their own best interests?  Or do we find some magical method to boost the collective IQ in the red states?  Think about it.