There WAS food on the table last night for dinner. So I’m OK there. The house was clean, dogs were groomed, and I got to watch the last season episode of BILLIONS uninterrupted and the final round of the U.S. Open from Pebble Beach. Normally those would be the things that tick me off. Not this time.
I’m Sick and Tired of Washington D.C.! I’m sure that comes as no surprise to many of you. It makes NO difference if you’re liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, from a Red state or Blue state, you’ve got to be frustrated, too. So why don’t we together compile a list of all those things we’re Sick and Tired of?
“I’m Sick and Tired Of……”
Political Favors
There are PLENTY of examples we can point to that expose political favoritism in Washington. We all know about “the bridge to nowhere,” city libraries and highway exits and rezoning of a particular parcel of land. Though sad to admit, all those things are a part of life in the federal government. But sometimes, handing out favors turns into not tangible gifts, but gifts of political power. Let me explain…
Jerold Nadler (D-NY) is the head of one of the most powerful Congressional committees: the House Judiciary Committee. His committee rules on some of the most important legislative items that dramatically impact all Americans. Nadler late June 19, 2019, tweeted this:
“This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans arriving at the colony of Jamestown, VA. Today’s @HouseJudiciary hearing on #HR40 gives us the chance to reflect on the shameful legacy of slavery & Jim Crow, and to examine how to best move forward as a nation.” — (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) June 19, 2019
My frustration is not with the tweet itself, but with the entire mindset behind it. Nadler represents the 10th Congressional District of New York. Here’s the “geography” of that district: includes parts of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, SoHo, Greenwich Village, TriBeCa, the Financial District, and Battery Park City. In Brooklyn, the 10th District includes parts of Borough Park, Kensington, Red Hook, Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, and Gravesend.
If you know Manhattan, you know there are a lot of dollar signs behind the account numbers of thousands of the residents of Nadler’s district. That means there is a lot of might and power regarding all things political there. And all those with big bucks and power have great sway over Nadler.
Because of this, instead of simply reading the Congressman’s tweet and thinking, “He’s a good representative and cares much for the African American community and how slavery impacted them as long ago as 400 years and how they still struggle today,” I automatically think this instead: “I wonder which big givers to his campaign, Wall Street power brokers, and wealthy people of color in his district caved to political correctness and ‘suggested’ he make that statement in a tweet?”
It’s not just Nadler — it’s all over the Capitol, in members of both parties, and happens regarding every issue experienced in the lives of all Americans.
”I’m Sick and Tired of the Political Favors!”
Piling On
We’ve seen a large number of really good people get run out of D.C. for the most ridiculous reasons. Some call it “Piling On,” others call it “Scapegoating.
“Scapegoating” isn’t anything new. In Old Testament Israel, two identical male goats were selected: one was to be sacrificed to God, the other was taken by the High Priest who took the sins of the Jewish people and placed them on the second goat, which was then sent into the desert to where the goat would plunge to its death. One of the factors I’ve found fascinating about scapegoating is a theory that people who are scapegoated must behave in a way that those around them believe that they have “earned” the loathing of others. I couldn’t help thinking of Donald Trump and how he has become the scapegoat of the Left for nearly everything—even when he’s not connected to the situation. Unfortunately, the Left doesn’t realize that scapegoating not only wounds the victim but can be devastating to those who commit it.
Remember Minnesota U.S. Senator Al Franken? I liked Franken as a comedian in the SNL early days on Saturday nights. Serving in the U.S. Senate as a VERY liberal Minnesotan didn’t serve him well. Franken was literally run out of D.C. amid sexual “allegations” — not proven truths — several years ago for nothing more than allegations. He became a Democrat Party scapegoat to pacify the “Me Too” movement that has summarily attacked high-profile individuals for sexual improprieties. Though Franken’s allegations were shallow and unproven, he just “seemed” sleazy. That qualified Franken to become Dems’ scapegoat.
The obvious #1 Washington scapegoat is President Trump. History — when the history of the Trump presidency is completed — will detail just how “used” he has been by his opponents. Boy, could we chronicle a bunch of those attacks! But let it suffice to say that the Mueller Investigation that was instigated apparently with NO evidence, NO factual information in every other case necessary to initiate a counter-intelligence investigation is a perfect example of Washington finding someone to use as a scapegoat.
”I’m Sick and Tired of the Scapegoating!”
Random Law Enforcement
We just saw something akin to writing a wrong in U.S. criminal justice. The Clinton Crime Bill from the 1990s (that was pushed through in part by Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton) was a horrific example of “equal justice under the law.” African Americans were targeted by the terms of that law for decades: mass incarceration, laws enforced unequally against them compared to enforcement against Caucasians, horrifically expensive criminal litigation costs and sentences that were outrageously unfair, including “Three Strikes and You’re Out.” The new crime bill just signed into law repaired a huge portion of those criminal justice travesties. But the random enforcement of laws still exists and has simply become the elitists’ way of poking average Americans in their eyes with law enforcement wrongs.
Let’s look at a few.
Immigration Laws. Don’t get me started! Folks, I’m sorry. We have specific laws regarding every aspect of immigration in the U.S. — including illegal immigration. The U.S. legally allows 1 million immigrants into the U.S. with permanent status each year. That equals the total number of immigrants allowed into all other countries in the World each year! Yet, we do NOT enforce immigration laws.
How insane is it to know that each month this year, an average of 100,000 illegals have been apprehended at the southern border. That number does NOT include those that sneak across without detection. Yet Democrats will NOT agree to take any measures the professionals tell us are necessary to stop it. That’s insane!
We all know why Democrats won’t stop it: VOTES. A social media story has been circulating stating that “Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to allow illegals to vote in U.S. elections.” That’s NOT true. But….there WAS a bill that doing so was a part of.
“We are prepared to open up the political process and let all of the people come in,” Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and hero of the civil rights movement, told colleagues as he led opposition to the GOP measure.
The 228-197 vote came as part of a broader debate on Democrats’ major legislative priority this year, HR 1, the “For the People Act,” which includes historic expansions of voter registration and access, as well as a major rewrite of campaign finance laws.
The measure would have had no practical effect even if it had passed. Illegal immigrants — and indeed noncitizens as a whole — are not legally able to participate in federal elections, according to the U.S. Constitution. But Democrats made it clear they desire to change that!
Drug Laws. Talk about mass chaos. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia currently have passed laws broadly legalizing marijuana in some form.
The District of Columbia and 10 states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — have adopted the most expansive laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
Those states have done so knowing that possession of marijuana anywhere in the United States violates federal criminal laws!
Does that not bother you? Someone somewhere in the U.S. government made a decision at some point in time for the Department of Justice to allow federal drug laws to be violated at will without any enforcement of federal laws.
There’s no need to go into the why’s about this: we all know. But don’t you think it would be smart and LEGAL for Congress to simply repeal any of the old federal drug laws that make marijuana illegal rather than have police simply wink at marijuana drug users sending them on their way?
Random Enforcement. This one bugs me more than the others. Two guys who committed the same crime, both have the same criminal record, are charged the same, appear before the same judge, and receive totally different sentences though they both committed the same crime! It happens every day in courtrooms of local, state, AND federal courts. Why is that?
Guy #1 has a friend who serves as a Deputy Sheriff who’s sister in the aunt of Guy #1’s girlfriend. That sounds stupid, I know. But it often is that ridiculous. Guy #1 gets a reduced sentence while Guy #2 who knows no one gets the book thrown at him.
“I’m Sick and Tired of Random Law Enforcement Instead of ‘Equal Justice Under the Law!’”
Fact-Checking
I hate them all! Why do they even exist? Of course, it’s because Americans are too stupid, too lazy, and too incapable to do a little research on our own. We MUST rely on the “experts” to check all the facts that are distributed daily in the national news.
Did you know that almost all of the Fact-Checkers are tied to some news outlet or news organization? Of course, they will not tell you that! After all, being a part of a news organization like, The Washington Post, would color the “facts” that are given on any topic seen less truthful, and more biased!
Here are the 10 top Fact-Checking websites as listed by the “experts:”
Politifact– PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others who speak up in American politics. PolitiFact is run by editors and reporters from the Tampa Bay Times, an independent newspaper in Florida. Politifact won the Pulitzer Prize. I don’t know about you, but that in itself is NOT a real recommendation.
Fact Check– FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. They are a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases.
Open Secrets– Open Secrets is a nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, run by the Center for Responsive Politics, which is the nation’s premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Open Secrets is a source for discovering how much and where candidates get their money. They also track lobbying groups and whom they are funding.
Snopes– Snopes has been the definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation for a long time. Snopes is also usually the first to report some national or international happening as being factual or not.
The Sunlight Foundation– The Sunlight Foundation is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that uses the tools of civic tech, open data, policy analysis, and journalism purportedly “to make government and politics more accountable and transparent to all.” Sunlight primarily focuses on money’s role in politics.
Poynter Institute– The Poynter Institute is not a true fact-checking service. Here’s what the experts say about Poynter: “They are however a leader in distinguished journalism and produce nothing but credible and evidence-based content. If Poynter reports it, you can count on it being true.”
Flack Check– Headquartered at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, FlackCheck.org is the political literacy companion site to FactCheck.org. The site provides resources designed to help viewers recognize flaws in arguments in general and political ads in particular.
Truth or Fiction– Very similar to Snopes. They tend to focus more on political rumors and hoaxes.
Hoax-Slayer– Another service that debunks or validates internet rumors and hoaxes.
Fact Checker by the Washington Post– The Washington Post has a very clear left-center bias and this is reflected in their fact checks. Their fact checks are excellent and sourced; however, their bias is reflected in the fact that they fact-check right-wing claims more than left. Otherwise, the Washington Post is a good resource.
Summary
Just to put it in simple terms: “I’m Sick and Tired of Washington D.C.!” The culture of the city is driven by politics, and because of that, Washington has always seemed “dirty” to me — not in the sense of needing a bath, but it seems to always reak of compromise, dirty deals, cronyism, back-alley negotiations, and trying to find new ways to get into the wallets of Americans.
In the 2016 Presidential Campaign, Donald Trump brought up the term “Drain the Swamp.” No name could possibly be more appropriate than that for Washington. Furthermore, as much as he has and is trying, Washington is so dirty and so evil, I doubt he’ll be able to totally drain the Swamp out of D.C. I don’t think any president can.
But, you know what: getting rid of the swamp creatures one at a time is a good way to start. He’s doing that. He’s turned the light on in the kitchen, and the roaches are scattering.
I’m sick and tired of his turning that light on only for one of the swamp critters to reach up and turn the light off! Those Swamp inhabitants sure like to keep it dark!
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