Parrothead Jeff & Friends

Ticks- blood sucking little parasites that tend to spread disease

Politicians- blood sucking big parasites that tend to spread disease

News flash.  I am not a Democrat.

Nor am I a Republican.

I am me.  A single entity with a brain- a brain that allows ME to chose what I believe in.

I AM a mixture of liberal & conservative ideas.

I believe in hard work to get ahead.  That homosexuals should have legal rights, but those don’t include religious marriage.  I believe in a woman’s right to chose whether to continue with an unplanned pregnancy UNTIL it starts becoming repetitive birth control.  I believe outlawing abortion will send women back to coat hangers & quacks in dark alleys.  I believe in the rights of a law-abiding citizen to own weapons- even those evil automatic type weapons.

I believe in beating a kid’s ass when he royally screws up and letting that be that.  I believe you can say the words, “I’ve got him in my crosshairs” without it meaning you’re fixing to shoot someone.  I believe any leader, ANY leader, should be held to a higher standard than the general public.  They’re in a *special* place, thanks to special circumstances, they need to act *special*- that includes NOT saying the F word every time they’re in front of a podium. I believe anyone who thinks an elective official using profanity at every chance is “keeping it real” is a moron.

I believe in the benefits of stem cell research.

I believe that overall, the Muslims are our enemies and I don’t believe that the Isrealies are necessarily our friends.  My feelings towards Muslims comes not from the media, but from my own personal dealings.  This is not to say there aren’t some decent, good, peaceful Muslims out there.  However, the decent, good, peaceful Muslims I PERSONALLY KNOW have warned me that I have a right to be fearful of the group, only a true fool wouldn’t be, and that’s why they live here.  Amir, a friend, says for the most part they’re not peaceful, loving folks and their aim isn’t to find world peace, but world domination.  The dude was born & raised over there, I figure he should know a hell of a lot more about it than some well-fed 20-something who’s studied the “religion”.

I believe trust & respect are earned, not God or Constitution given rights.

I believe, because of MY OWN experience, that the government does a piss-poor job running health care.  As a state employee, we’re covered by Georgia’s State Health Benefit Plan.  I saw it take THREE fiscal years to get my child covered on the husband’s insurance policy- ALL thanks to bumbling inadequacy on MULTIPLE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES’ parts.  I’ve been up to my eyeballs for the past year trying to help my mother straighten out the mess created by MediCARE employees.  Not by her or something she failed to do, but by them not being able to fathom simple things like she retired.

I believe our elected officials should represent their constituency.  As big as Health Care Reform has been, why couldn’t they send out a letter asking their registered voters what they wanted, then voted by the majority of the replies?  The Census (or should that be senseless?) managed a pre-Census letter, the Census paper, & a post-Census postcard within a matter of 12 days…

I believe that folks telling me I don’t have a mind of my own or that I derived my ideas from Glen Beck or Rush Limbaugh should pucker up & kiss my butt.   I don’t have cable.  I have NEVER seen Glen Beck “ranting” or anything else.  I’m not sure I could even ID him in a still picture.  I thought Rush Limbaugh was a nut in the 80’s- before most of the folks accusing me of being brainless were out of diapers.  My opinion of him still remains the same.  I have thought Barbara Streisand, Sean Penn & their ilk were crap heads- even before someone else told me their thoughts on those folks.

I believe Tea Partiers have the right idea.  I think it’s disgusting to call them Tea Baggers.  IF *my* congressman hadn’t listened to his constituency and had continued to vote against their collective majority’s wishes, I’d be Tea Partying right along with them.  Tea Partiers are looking for the change THEY can believe in.

It’s funny that “Tea Partiers” have had a rancid stigma attached to them while “Yes You Canners” were/are haled as wonderful.  They’re two groups, willing to stand for what they believe in.  That’s all.  Groups of people…they weren’t born covered in gold stardust.  None of them were born any more special than the next guy.  They’re flip sides of the same coin.

By rights, I should be a Yes You Canner.  I’m living well below the poverty line.  My husband lost his 30 year job during the Bush administration.  I spent years without medical insurance because I couldn’t afford it.  I’m in an upside-down mortgage.

I should be rallying for more give-aways.  I should be rallying for more freebies.

However, my CONSCIENCE will not afford me the feeling that would have me do such.

Feelings of ENTITLEMENT seem to preclude any remote feelings of responsibility and use of conscience as a guide these days.

This health care crap shouldn’t even be a governmental issue- it should be a consumer issue.  If folks would band together in even half the numbers against the insurance companies as they have political parties, the insurance companies would have cowed & bent long ago.

But no, it’s easier to pass that buck- and your personal responsibility- to someone else.  If they’re successful, you revel intheir glory and have the false sense that you’ve personally won. If they aren’t successful, you can wallow in the fact that once again, you’ve been defeated, kicked & let down.  You can blame them, whoever them happens to be.

I believe I’m entitled to whatever pay I earn and I’m entitled to make the decisions on where that money goes.  Last week, I entered the grocery store with $82 in my pocket to feed my family & my animals for two weeks.  A gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, a pack of ground beef & a jar of spaghetti sauce totals about $10.  You can see how far $82 will go- especially when you factor in toilet paper, dog food, detergent and other needed items.  Well, there was a lady sitting out front with a jug.  As I approached the store, she hollered, “Feed the hungry!”.

Lady, that’s what I’m here to do- buy food where I can feed the hungry.  I went in the store.

As I exited the store with my SIX bags of groceries and 36 cents (to last until the 31st), she hollered at me again, with a crappy tone to her voice- “I SAID FEED THE HUNGRY!”.  She accused me of being self-centered and depriving someone of a meal when I refused to “be responsible & donate”.

Pardon me??  Last I noticed, folks at MY house get hungry too and my ONLY responsibility is to take care of my family.  What I chose to do for others is just that- a choice.

And I won’t jeopardize the safety & health of my own family where I can feel good about myself having given to some poor, pitiful needy person.

To sum it all up, I believe-

I don’t owe anything- free health care, food, or support of ideas- to anyone other than my family & God.  I firmly believe God doesn’t want to see my kids going hungry & living in a tent where I can pay for someone else’s health care, dinner, or anything else.  I also firmly believe that nobody owes me any of the same.

I believe the rich will always be the rich & the poor will always be the poor and if Robin Hood gets too busy trying to redistribute wealth, the rich will pack up and take it elsewhere, denying the poor even further.  Very few got rich by being as stupid as Prince John.

I believe that most of the generation younger than me and a good portion of folks in my generation are fools.  They whine about inequities they wouldn’t be able to recognize without help, they’re more prone to depression, life it tougher for them.  Yeah, they’ve had it so hard inventing fire & the wheel & working machinery. When your toughest decision in life is what cell phone or energy drink you should buy, I reckon you have reason to be depressed.

I believe I’ve said enough here to piss of several liberals & conservatives.  I don’t care anymore.

I believe you should quit accusing me of not being able to think for myself, for being selfish and not wanting to see my country thrive.

If you can’t respect that, I believe you should go find a cow & kiss its butt, as I will not afford you the special opportunity to kiss mine.

And finally, I believe I’ll go have some breakfast then get out and enjoy this beautiful day, in my beautiful country, provided to me by my beautiful God.