I thought an elephant never forgot? Well, the GOP nominees have apparently forgotten what country they are in. Last time I checked this was the United States of America, not the Divided States of China. After watching the debate last night, the GOP candidates have made it quite clear they hate this country and what it stands for. Let me explain (before sending me hate mail).
Regulations: The GOP nominees have made it quite clear that they hate regulations. However, is that not what separates America from China? Is that not why our products are the best in the world? Just for an example, people had drywall installed in their homes that was made in China. It had a dangerous gypsum mineral in it that was making people sick. (See link below) Drywall made in the good ole’ US of A has regulations preventing us from using dangerous chemicals, like asbestos and gypsum. Ron Paul has made it quite clear that he will do away with all regulations, but no one in any of the debates has dared to challenge him on what that would do to our country.
What if we did away with the EPA? Let’s imagine all the cities and even some suburbs looking like Los Angeles with smog. Our drinking water would have pollutants that could cause sepsis. (If you do not know what sepsis is, I seriously beg you to Google it). Factories would be able to pump out every chemical into our air and water systems. You think second hand smoke is bad, wait until you die from dangerous chemicals being pumped into the air at a higher rate and more often. You know, those chemicals do not just “magically” disappear into thin air or into space right? 9This is where 3rd grade science comes in handy). Our atmosphere blocks things from coming in, but it also blocks things from going out.
What if we did away with OSHA? That would mean McDonald’s would be allowed to let any chemicals be used to clean food surfaces, even if it does not clean bacteria nor has harmful fumes. They would not have to supply gloves for their employees to clean with, rubber mats to prevent slipping, or sterilizing chemicals to wash pans in. OSHA was designed to help protect the employees and make sure companies, especially those that serve food, are safe. Would you still eat out if there was no OSHA? Would you still want to work if there was no OSHA?
You know that Raisin Bran you love you so much? If you do away with regulations, are you sure those raisins will remain raisins? Those pans you love to cook with, if there were no regulations, would you eat the food after you cooked in them knowing full well that heat can cause dangerous chemicals to go into your food from the pans? It all comes down to be able to think about things instead of taking the hype and word vomit at face value. And that brings me to my next issue with the candidates.
Education: They all want to do away with the federal Department of Education, but have you ever asked why? The federal department of education makes sure colleges are doing what they are supposed to be doing, they also try and make sure states have standards for education. I get that each state is different, but if you left education up to each state, what would happen when a child goes to school in one state, has to move to another and is not adequately prepared to handle the curriculum? Let me give you an example. Let’s say Kentucky has a completely republican state, (which they do) and elect to not to focus on science and more on creationism and biblical study in schools. What happens when a child graduates, goes to college outside of Kentucky and is ill prepared? We are just creating generations of ignorant people. Who is going to be there to make sure colleges are teaching the appropriate material? How do we expect to compete in the world when every state is different? We severely lack in science and math as it is, if we get rid of education regulations, we will be reverting back to Neanderthals.
Bachmann and Santorum brought up how parents are ultimately held responsible for their children’s education and I agree to a certain extent. However, with a wide range of diverse parents, how can we manage to know that kids are being taught at home? Some parents have to work 2 jobs to survive and are not able to be there and teach their teach kids everything. Some parents are not educated themselves to be able to help their children with homework. There are so many government sponsored programs that help assist parents to make sure their children are being educated properly, but if we get rid of the Dept. of Ed, what would happen to those under-privileged kids? It seems to me as though the republican party wants to create a generation of idiots.
DADT: One thing that truly upset me was the gay soldier who posed a question the candidates. No, it was the soldier that upset me, it was the boos he received from the crowd and the fact that none of the candidates or Fox panel people condemned them for booing. The man is a soldier, fighting for us and for that freedom to boo him. It makes me wonder if the Westboro Baptist Church is alone in their quest. It was truly disgusting no one thanked him for his service. Well, sir, I thank you for your service and I am sure many more Americans will join me in saying so. (Please comment).
Santorum made a reference to the DADT repeal saying “this has become an issue of sex in the military and sex has no place in the military; straight or gay.” (I am paraphrasing). Apparently Mr. Santorum has no clue what DADT was and how it affected the men and women serving. It has nothing to do with sex, Mr. Santorum. It has to do with the fact that a person who volunteered to lay their life on the line for this country could be removed from the service just for who they are. A soldier was discharged for emailing his boyfriend. Mr. Santorum made a reference saying they are getting “special treatment” and the crowd clad. What special treatment are they getting? They are allowed to stay in the military now and fight? How is that special treatment? Apparently his contempt for homosexuals fried what little brain he has left.
Immigration: I am a little confused about these candidates stance on immigration. I do not think they even know how to stop illegal immigrants from coming over here. Bachmann wants to build a fence to nowhere, Perry wants to give them a tuition free college grant plus put boots on the ground, and the rest of them are just confused on how much of a fence to put up. Yes, we have a problem with immigration, but it’s not just Mexico. We have illegal immigrants from all over this world here, so the problem is bigger than a fence. And lest we forget, we came here illegally and raped and pillaged our way through the Native American lands to claim our stake here.
One thing really bothered me though, was when Gingrich implied that we give the employers tools to verify employees working for them to prove if they are legal. Gingrich said we should let credit card companies like American Express and Mastercard take of the verification process because they know how to do it right. I am speechless. Yes, let’s give more power to credit card companies. That’s really smart…. Not.
Basically, the debate on Fox was nothing more than a mishmash of the irrelevant, the loony, and the disconnected. Not one of those candidates has any idea what America is about. They are leading us into further debt, a bigger gap between the rich and the poor, and an unsafe place to live. Remember folks, China has no regulations and look where that has gotten them. We already are failing in science and math, why would we want to make it worse?
I am tired of watching these soft question debates with no real follow-up questions. Just as an example, when Perry starts on his rants about the stimulus money not working, why are we not asking him why he took $17 billion of the stimulus money for his state; $14 billion of that was a grant? He says he has created so many jobs, but why is no one asking what kind of jobs? And when Bachmann goes on her “Obamacare” (pronounced Oh-bahma-kaer), why isn’t anyone asking her to shut up? When a question was posed in the last debate by Wolfe Blitzer, he gave a scenario of a healthy 30 year old man who chose not buy health insurance, why didn’t he ask what about the 30 year old mother working 2 minimum wage jobs and neither offer health insurance and she cannot afford to purchase it on her own? This 9,9,9 plan from Herman Cain; why isn’t anyone saying that 9% to a poor person is a lot more devastating than 9% to a rich person? It is very frustrating watching the ignorance spread.
I want to see real questions and answers, but I guess I am asking too much from a room full of forgetful elephants.