As I await the dawn of my 20,075th day on this earth, I feel the need for reflection. Time enough alive, I should think, to have learned a thing or two. Sorry to say, it hasn’t been all good.
However, owing to the fact that tomorrow is an election day here, and the boob-tube shows nothing but boobs…I couldn’t help but get stuck in the quagmire that is our government
Having learned that cliches are cliches, and euphemisms are euphemisms for good reason, and never more evident than when a pattern of behavior BEGS to be seen for exactly what it is, I do think it’s time for me to call it what it is and like I see it…
B U L L S H I T
And by bullshit, I mean Politics
If you’ll allow, I give you:
The top 20 cliches and euphemisms of this 20,074 ½ day old female, who believes are alive and well in today’s bloody, rotten, stinkin’, crappy, silly, non-productive, infuriating, ridiculous, embarrassing; yet ours…world of politics
The more things change, the more they stay the same – POLITICS
A house divided against itself, cannot stand – POLITICS
Actions speak louder than words – POLITICS
Those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it – POLITICS
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em – POLITICS
Money talks – POLITICS
Stupid is as stupid does – POLITICS
Birds of a feather flock together – POLITICS
Talk is cheap – POLITICS
The ends justify the means – POLITICS
There’s one born every minute – POLITICS
The truth is stranger than fiction – POLITICS
Two wrongs don’t make a right – POLITICS
Cut off your nose to spite your face – POLITICS
Feeding frenzy – POLITICS
Out of sight, out of mind – POLITICS
The blind leading the blind – POLITICS
The status quo – POLITICS
It takes one to know one – POLITICS
A good man/woman is hard to find – POLITICS
…and trust me, I could go on
But another pattern of behavior ‘frosts my ass’ too. And you’ll likely notice that many of the above can be applied to what is below
I think I’ll call it the Tolerance/Intolerance Side Show to the circus that is Political Correctness:
Protesting to rename highways, parks, etc., and trying to remove monuments that celebrate confederate Generals because they fought a fight you don’t agree with
Yet…organizing campaigns to rename those same said highways, parks, etc. for people that answered the call for civil rights decades after the fact. The same protesters, I might add, who themselves never cried out for the removal from written history, all who made their lives hell
Removing the Confederate flag from all state and federal facilities because some see it as a symbol of hatred, when in fact, it was a battle flag designed to differentiate it from the Union flag and therefore has historical value; nothing more
Yet, not protesting when a world renowned symbol of the United States, The Empire State Building, is used to herald the achievements or celebrate holidays of the very countries that would like nothing more than to see the United States cease to exist
Removing something as iconic as The Duke’s of Hazard from TV Land because the car had a Confederate flag on it, even though not a single word of a single episode, ever suggested bigotry or racism or intolerance
Yet, if you’re a fan of TV Land programs, have you noticed George Jefferson says the word Honky in just about every episode?
And there are some behaviors that are not so easily categorized, yet the influence of today’s PC madness is evident in the overwhelming number of those who ascribe to these beliefs relating to color:
Listening as people of color tell me that I’ll never understand, could never relate, to what it’s like to be a person of color
True. Yet at the same time, those said same people of color, tell me they know exactly what it is to be white, because being white means only one thing; privilege
[I get it, in theory. But I can just as easily say that I wouldn’t know what it’s like to be a bird. It’s irrelevant. And, another truth is that, unless you’ve walked the back roads of my life…your right to this claim is false. So let’s stick to the truth that none of us can know what it’s like to be in another man’s shoes, unless we’ve walked in them, and call it a day.]
Sanitizing our history books to shield our kids from the worst in our country’s history, including the path of our growth (that we are still on by the way)
Yet making sure we do include a focus of study that tries to maximize a culture of them vs us, with little regard for how far we’ve come, nor teachings on the strides made in the last 200 years…as though nothing has changed
The worst of it comes out in the various ways we bite each other’s ankles…and to what end?
For instance:
Demonizing the rich for having too much
Denigrating the poor for having too little and needing more
Expecting the government to give more and more
Blaming the government for sticking it’s nose in our business
Tolerance for groups that separate and segregate
Intolerance for groups that point it out
Fighting for women’s equality
Crying that chivalry is dead
Calling for change through peaceful protest for the injustices seen in all facets of the human struggle, especially those affecting minorities
Yet some especially touched by these injustices hide behind a guise of protest for change, take it as the opportunity to loot for personal gain and destroy entire neighborhoods, then scream racism when motives are questioned
Are we so intolerant or jealous of each other’s success that we have to denigrate and belittle?
Are we so comfortable in our misery, we feel we must maintain it at all costs?
Have we forgotten what it’s like to celebrate each other to the point that every gain should be looked at as a loss because it didn’t happen 200 years ago? 100 years ago? 50? Yesterday?
When all we have to show for the 3 centuries we’ve been a country are broken teeth and bloody socks…why the hell do we even try?
Is this to be our legacy…?
Welcome to the United States
The land of equal opportunity damning
Damned if we do
And by God
Damned if we don’t
Is the only way to prove I’m not a racist to agree with everything a person of color says and thinks?
Why? Why can I not just agree and disagree with anyone and everyone based on what I believe and be done with it!
Conversely, is the only way to be true to your heritage as a person of color to pretend success doesn’t matter lest your peers think you an Uncle Tom or some other stupid shit?
That’s ridiculous on its face and damned insulting to every person who’s ever made more of themselves than those around them! REGARDLESS of your heritage.
Is the only way I can prove I’m a strong woman to think and act like a man?
Shit, I’d rather be a cat (I almost said dog, but cats get away with more!)
We are better than this!
We…men, women, black, white, red, yellow, brown, HUMAN…are better than this!
This began as a reflection in the wading pool that is this political swamp, but resulted in getting caught in the current of political correctness, and nearly drowning in the tidal wave of whatthefuckarewethinking!
Enough already!
Just
Enough
I end it here…I am 55 tomorrow.
I am seeing the country I love implode because of an agenda I have no interest in adopting as my own.
I am proud to be an American.
I am proud to be a Christian.
I am proud to hold the values I hold and don’t feel the need to label them one way or the other.
I am proud to be a woman.
I hold no pride in being white…I have ZERO say in that.
Nor do I maintain guilt because of it.
I am proud to champion anyone who leaves the world a better place.
I don’t see the race or religion.
I could care two-shits for the land that you hailed from as long as you take good care of the one you are living in.
I will celebrate your achievements, but none so much as your paying forward that which you can to those that cannot.
I am a member of one race – the human one – and unless you expect me to give that up – I’ll always welcome you at my table
THIS…IS WHAT I WILL ALWAYS BE
Happy birthday my thought-provoking, insightful, wonderful friend, Rhonda. It’s just after 3am here and something woke me up! I absolutely adore you and your honesty and wisdom. Lots and lots of love from your elder (I am 56 haha!) Julie xxxxx
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Aw Jules…I wish you were snug in your bed at this hour, but I love you for waking up enough to come see me. And just so you know…I may be 55, but I feel 56! hahaha…love you
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Hey girl, happy birthday to you. We do live in a mighty mess but thankfully there are people like you around to try to cut to the chase. Keep on keeping on or as the Brits say ‘Keep calm and carry on’. xxx
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Thank you for the felicitations my friends…and I shall endeavor to do my part in Keeping Calm and Carrying On! 🙂
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Happy Birthday! You are awesome, Rhonda xo
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Aw….thanks Kelly (grinning ear to ear)
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You’re welcome birthday girl of awesomeness! If I had a crown I would put one on your head 🙂
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Happy Birthday dearest Rhonda! Double nickels! Woo Hoo! Love the list of what you’ve learned. Love the post and love who you are. Simply put, love ya! May your every wish be fulfilled! You deserve it! ♥♥♥
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Yup…double nickles! Still hard to imagine ‘cuz I certainly don’t feel it. 🙂 Thanks so much my friend, it’s going to be a good day. I’m being taken to the off Broadway show Newsies! Song and dance…what more could a gal want eh? Love you
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Think I need to get on with that plan for world domination before politicians all over the world reduce it’s value, it is already a ‘fixer-upper’ as it is. 😀 Happy birthday hun xxxx
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Well damn it, get your arse movin on that Queenie! And thanks for the birthday wish…55 and still alive 🙂 xoxox
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Well you know when you make it to a hundred here the Queen sends you a telelgram so only 45 years to go and I will send you one, of course that is assuming by the time we get there either of us can remember who we are let alone each other lol
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ROFL….Now, that would be awesome! Maybe I should write myself a note, hide it somewhere I’m bound to forget, write another note to remind me where I hid the first note…OR…I suppose I could put the note on the fridge where ALL good notes go to die? LOL…thanks for the smile today my friend…xo
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I wonder if I could schedule a WP blog to go up on my hundredth birthday? Mind you not sure how many people would still be around on WP by then to read it, there will probably be a new social media by then lol
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OMG…can you imagine? That would be something extraordinary for sure!!! I bet social media in the next 50 + years will be similar to today only on a much much bigger scale…maybe more like SKYPE on steroids?
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You know what I am going to do one for my fifieth which is in 6 years, I am going to do it like a letter to myself lol
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haha…want me to write a note to remind you to do it in 6 years? Would be fun to celebrate the big 50 with you over there…I should start saving my pences huh?
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I have SOOO much catching up to do in blog land…..I love your birthday eve reflections….I wish you had a birthday EVERYDAY! (plus then you’d be older than me….right now….you just achieved MY age…and my odometer turns before yours!) I love you my friend, for who you are. And you make it so easy to do…. HB HUGS ♥
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You are singularly, one of the happiest people I know and I’m blessed to call you friend. Love you right back!!
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Awwww….you make my heart smile. 🙂 ♡♡♡
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I’m late reading this but I hope you had a fabulous birthday. And that all is well. Excellent rant, as always.
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You’re never late Audra…it’s always the right time for you to pop in! Thanks, the birthday was a lot of fun 🙂 and so was the rant actually! 🙂 Have a great Sunday my friend
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I expect nothing less than this type of passion from you, SB – bang on, my friend. And happy very belated birthday (so sorry for having missed it!).
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Aw, thanks NB but no need to be sorry. While you’ve been missed, I’ve been happily imagining you fully engaged in your very full life and smiling at the thought of how big the little one must be getting! That, and writing of course 😉
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Between me and you, the little one is talking, walking and creating trouble everywhere, but number four is also on the way (wish me luck).
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Oh My! You HAVE been busy! Congratulations NB…luck is not what you need. Patience. Now THAT’S what I’ll wish for you. 🙂 I’m happy for you.
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Thanks SB… it’s gonna be fun.
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No Doubt! 😉
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