Things I Will Miss About DC

2 - The Protests

I will preface by saying that I am pretty liberal, so while my intention is not to insult anyone, there is bound to be some liberal bias soon to follow. That said, feel free to stop reading here if you'd like (assuming anyone's actually reading this).

This past Saturday, in an attempt to ignore my terrible cold, I ventured into the streets of DC. Apart from my head feeling like an oversized water balloon ready to burst at any moment, it was a very lovely day. Unfortunately (for all of us), there was also one other fairly large problem. The streets were swarming with what I will refer to as Tea Partiers. This brings us to “Things I will Miss About DC” #2: The Protests.

I’m not entirely sure why I’ll miss them. They cause traffic and confusion in the city, not to mention the Metro. I very rarely encounter them and have only ever attended one by accident. Even then, I was mostly just an onlooker. Regardless, they help pull me out of the pit of apathy where I so often find myself (being a twenty something living in post-Bush America). Also, they can be pretty funny. Loooooots of characters…

As I wandered through DC on Saturday, my friend and I found ourselves knee deep in a protest on Capitol Hill and the Mall organized by the Tea Party Movement, which opposes President Obama’s Health Care Reform. [Note: I have made an honest effort to learn about the various bills in Congress, but it hasn’t been easy. I can’t imagine that with the constant misinformation and fear mongering being spread across the country it’s easy for the average American to become truly informed on this issue at all. Factcheck.org helps dispel some myths though – I have included a link. Take a look.] My intention is not to get into a health care debate, and make no mistake; I have absolutely no doubt that, while I did not see any, there must have been a few very intelligent and well informed people at this gathering. I did, however, encounter several people who can only be described as stupid. I would try to come up with a more descriptive adjective, but it would be wasted on these people. And unfortunately in this country, stupid people are very opinionated...and loud. The more I walked through the crowds, the more I realized how helpful a quick lesson from my 6th grade Social Studies teacher, Miss Blanning, would be. I will not be making any actual attempt to contact Miss Blanning, but I will take a moment to cite Mr. Webster and define for us all the below terms.

so·cial·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

fas·cism
Pronunciation: \ˈfa-ˌshi-zəm also ˈfa-ˌsi-\
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

com·mu·nism
Pronunciation: \ˈkäm-yə-ˌni-zəm, -yü-\
1 a : a theory advocating elimination of private property b : a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed2 capitalized a : a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics b : a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production c : a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably

Czar Variant(s): also tsar or tzar \ˈzär, ˈ(t)sär\ 1 : emperor; specifically : the ruler of Russia until the 1917 revolution 2 : one having great power or authority

My initial intention was to stop at the definitions and let everyone figure my point out on their own, but after watching the above video I got a little fired up; so I’m going to take an extra minute to give my two cents regarding this little Social Studies lesson. Unless things have changed significantly since last November, I’m pretty sure Obama was elected by a rather large majority. Sorry, if you were on the ass end of that stick, America. I know how it feels; I was there for 8 years. Also, seeing as he’s not Russian, I’m thinking it’s nearly impossible for him to actually be a Czar. (At least, I don’t thiiink he’s Russian…ask Ann Coulter. She’ll know for sure. Or Sarah Palin, since she can see Russia from her house.) In regards to the health care bills in committee, they do not eliminate the private option and do not create a fully government funded option either; so whether you agree with them or not, you really can’t call them socialist bills, can you? Don’t get me wrong, if we could, I’d totally be into it. Although, Medicare IS fully funded and administrated by the goverment, so I guess every president since Harry Truman has been a socialist. As for calling Obama a fascist…c’mon. I think Mr. President likes his private property just as much as the next person. And let’s not fool ourselves…If he were a fascist, especially when considering his majority support in Congress, I don’t think my friend’s Labradoodle would even be allowed to march on Washington without major consequences. I find it so interesting that even after the Census Bureau's report on the failure of the Bush Administration, people are still so incredibly petrified by the thought of change.

My proposal to the American People - Let's be real for a tiny second and calm the fuck down. Stop getting your information from Rush Limbaugh and Fox News; instead, try reading a book. And for christ's sake, stop calling Obama a Czar or Emperor, King…whatever. We all know there’s only one King in American and that’s Jesus.

(Oh! One last thing…lay off the Joker. He's too good for politics.)