CINO's, the modern-day Pharisees (Matthew 23:13)

Note: After I began writing this, we had to take our grandson to the hospital. I will post a new blog regarding this experience. Until then:

I'm usually optimistic, tempered with a strong sense of realism and a healthy dose of skepticism. Seldom am I pessimistic. However, I'm beginning to think we may be seeing the beginning of the end of the American Democracy Experiment. The end is being brought on by immoral actions of a group of people who think themselves religious even to the point of being superior. This self-righteousness stinks of hypocrisy, and this is what is bringing this country to the brink of implosion.

Of course, I'm talking about Christians. I'm not referring to all Christians, just those modern-day Pharisees, the vocal asshats who value Law above Mercy. You know, those sanctimonious people who the founder of their religion railed against even to the point of his own death. I call them CINO's, or Christians In Name Only.

We can see the effects of their piety on the national level, where Congressmen and Senators argue over health care reform, when they're not having extra-marital sex or collecting payoffs from the very industries they are supposed to regulate. There are CINO's in both political parties, though the majority of these are Republican, with majority being determined by noise volume. The Republican CINO's seek to stop any sort of health care reform, regardless of the effects this will have on both the nation and its inhabitants, simply because they are obstructionists who would rather see the nation suffer than support a Democratic president and his policies. They scream and lie and rant about cost, despite having colluded with the previous administration to start a costly war against a nation who posed no threat to us but did sit atop vast reserves of oil. Millions of people - innocent people, men women, children - have died or have been maimed and displaced because of this war. Those responsible are war criminals and should be tried as such. These same CINO's condone the use of torture against those who are different from themselves. These same CINO's, and here I refer especially to tea-baggers (many of whom still do not understand the absurdity of using that name) have cheered for those in power who trample over the Constitution under the guise of protecting the people from terrorists, yet this is alright with them because those in power were Republicans. These CINO's protest against socialized medicine, ignoring the fact we already have socialized medicine in this country in the VA programs, in Medicare, in Medicaid.

Generally speaking, Republicans are assholes, while Democrats are pussies. The Democrats have been given power they are afraid to wield. They are the majority political party in both the House and Senate, yet cannot accomplish the change they were elected to achieve. Yes, they are, as a group, as corrupt as the Republicans. They are just as deep into the hip pockets of the insurance industry and the pharmaceutical industry as are the Republicans, but at least the Democrats paid lip service to wanting to reform our present health care system, to allow more people to obtain health care, to prevent the insurance companies from practicing the worst abuses in the name of corporate greed. However, they have failed, they continue to fail, and they will fail in the future, because they do not have the balls to get the job done. There are exceptions in people like Alan Grayson but the exceptions have not yet managed to strengthen the spines of people like Harry Reid. Meanwhile, Aetna publicly announces they will raise the rates they charge people for insurance so an expected 650,000 people will drop their coverage so the company won't have to pay out on claims so they will make even more money next year because 2009 profits were below goal. Note the company did make a profit in 2009, just not as much as the executives wanted. Note also this company spent over $2,000,000.00 in lobbying in 2009.

Oh, as for Independent Joe Lieberman? I wish there was a Hell so he could burn there forever.

Meanwhile, 48,000 Americans die each year because they do not have health insurance and do not seek timely medical care. With the primary vector for health insurance being a person's job, the toll of our high unemployment rate is exacerbated even further. And people who at one time had insurance but then filed a claim for a healthcare benefit now have a pre-existing condition. This means if you change jobs or for any reason want to buy insurance on the open market you may be forced to pay higher rates, if you can get coverage at all, because of your pre-existing condition. Another insurance industry practice is rescission, or dropping coverage after a claim has been filed. Google it. You'll find some powerful stories. Ignorant people talk of health care rationing under a government plan. We already have rationing now, under the banner of corporate profiteering.

Democrats have so far failed miserably in their promise to bring about change, especially in the field of health care reform, I expect they will be defeated in the 2010 and 2012 elections. Republicans will return to power in both the House and Senate and very possibly the presidency, although another possible scenario involves Republicans taking over Congress in 2010 and pissing off enough voters because of their jackassery that a Democrat could win the presidency in 2012. Regardless, the American Democratic Experiment will continue to suffer. There are already so many disillusioned potential voters not voting, or potential voters in a place like my state of Texas where a Democratic vote is a wasted vote, or potential voters who could not stand to vote for the poor caliber of candidate regardless of political party, that continued fuckups by our current crop of Democrats is going to send a majority of CINO's back into power. I'm not sure the Republic could survive another 8 years of Republican rule. We could end up with a plutocracy or even something closer to a kleptocracy. Indeed, some would say we already have one.