It's Gonna Get Ugly

I’m getting back on the political soapbox again. The elections are over and if I could afford to, I’d move out of the country.

I’m a Navy veteran with bi-polar disorder and other disabilities, none of which are a result of my military service. The Republicans are interested in lining their own pockets and those of Big Business. They are not interested in helping people, so they will probably repeal what small steps we’ve taken toward affordable health care. They don’t believe the planet is really in trouble, but they do believe in letting their Big Business cronies do whatever they want to pollute the water, air, and earth. I predict that the price of gas will rise even more and then, when the price of transporting goods goes up, the price of food and everything else will rise. There’s a bank that claims to help small businesses. Their tips for providing health insurance to employees? Buy insurance with a higher deductible. In other words, buy insurance your employees can’t afford to use.

It’s gonna get ugly before people realize that the Republicans’ fear-mongering was because the Democrats were beginning to turn things around and make life better for real people. During the first Bush administration, I was “sofa-surfing” and the VA had me listed as homeless because I was living out of a suitcase and wasn’t in any one place long enough to have my meds mailed there. I hadn’t burned the last of my bridges and didn’t have to move into a box, but if I hadn’t found a job when I did, that was the next place I would have had to go, because I was running out of friends willing to put me up. During the last so-called Bush administration, I was turned down everywhere I inquired about dental care and ended up pulling my own teeth with a string and a doorknob. I don’t want to go back to that, but I fear that’s where we’re headed. I’m afraid that since my medical problems are not the result of combat I will no longer qualify for VA medical treatment and that the government will cut Social Security and Medicare, as well. I don’t want to be another toothless, raving, maniac veteran on the street. And my kids work hard and shouldn’t have to support me. I live with my daughter, but I pay rent to help her, and I buy my own $5.00-a-loaf gluten-free bread.

During the last so-called Administration, I joined an organization called Move On and I signed every petition that came my way calling for impeachment, etc. I picketed for the health care bill, and environmental measures. Every few days I’d add a PS to my e-mails saying “Hi NSA! Have a nice watch, guys!” Then, my VA chorus won two gold medals and were invited to sing at the National Veterans’ Creative Arts Festival in Oklahoma. I was worried we’d get to the airport and they’d tell me I was on the “no fly” list. I would have been so embarrassed. But I never advocated anything illegal, although I referred to "the man who cheated and is not our duly elected President," “the so-called President,” and “the Usurper in the White House.”

Most of the info I have comes from books like Richard Clark’s “Against All Enemies.” The rest of that line is “domestic and foreign.” It is part of the oath one takes when enlisting in the military or assuming public office. These days, I’m afraid that some of our worst domestic enemies work in those large chambers on the Hill or are their best friends.

PS: Hi NSA. Have a nice watch, guys!