Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Brexit…. Guns and Ammo.

How often do we see simple political issues turn ridiculous, only to have one side resort to calling the other names?  He’s a racist because he thinks the US should have the same immigration policy as Mexico (i.e. If you’re caught here illegally, you go to jail or prison till we get around to shipping you home).  She’s an liar because she attacked Republicans for proposing a Bill that would have fixed the loophole in the No-Fly, No Buy Law that the Democrats love so much – that loophole being a current secrecy and lack of transparency, without being able to face one’s accusers (the government) and mount a defense so that one may be removed from that list (which currently is exceptionally costly and very difficult).

Brexit…  The Leave campaign was based on lies while the Remain camp simply resorted to exaggerations.  Give me a break.  Exaggeration is lying, sparky.

I’m not immune myself, which makes writing this post extra fun.  I constantly make fun of vegans as intellectually challenged.  Or better, how about the new trend in addiction treatment, “evidence-based” treatment alternatives?  That one is probably my favorite of late because it is so virulently dishonest at its core.

There are all sorts of warm and fuzzy words jumbled together to describe what “evidence-based” is, but the simple way to put it is this:  Evidence-based recovery is not a Twelve-Step Program and is devoid of that which is known as a Higher Power.  My question is this:  If you’re so intelligent and your idea of the way things should be is so excellent, why can’t you just come out and say it with a straight face?  This is the “why” behind evidence-based recovery:  We can’t regulate AA because there are no leaders, we can’t make money on AA because it’s free, and we can’t make it so only someone with a degree can administer it because any addict, regardless of educational background, can help another addict to recover simply by describing their own experience, strength and hope…  So we have to demonize and get rid of Twelve Step Programs so we can administer recovery from on high.  Basically, we’re going to do the exact same thing but we’re going to call it something else with fancy lingity (language, I like the word lingity because it’s funny) so we can make money off of it.

Look at the gun legislation that the Democrats shut the government down over last week with their insignificant sit-in.  After all of the back and forth over the last twenty years, they finally had something that we all could agree on in “No-fly, no-buy”.  Even the NRA, given the right legislation, would have backed it.  Democrats wouldn’t have it though – and it’s not because they’re stupid.  It’s because they’re smart.  Democrats want a law that they can bend and manipulate later on so that they can eventually bring about an end to private ownership of weapons with a simple change of rules.  This would be the easy end-around to actually crafting real legislation that a fair majority of people could agree with.

Another favorite of mine is “Universal” background checks.  They’re not universal, they’re “Federal Background Checks”.  Why use the word “Universal”?  To spread ignorance among the followers.  The other side won’t let “Universal” background checks pass because they know what’s next.  The bureaucracy simply changes the rules by executive fiat to make it so difficult to pass a background check that you effectively can’t buy a firearm anymore.  They end-around the Second Amendment of the Constitution the easy way, simply by passing a Law taking control of background checks that currently reside with local and State governments.  Of course, you’ll never see that on the brochure though, because only the most hyper-partisan hack would agree that this was a good thing.  This provides the perfect backdrop for a clash amongst the citizenry.  I’m mad, you’re mad, I’m an idiot, but so are you.  Exactly the way politicians like President Obama want it…  That’s the only way they can control us.  When we’re pissed and ignorant at the same time.

The real target for our scorn should be the politicians and they way they continue to stage these silly battles to keep us at each other’s throats…

…and if you don’t agree with me, you’re an idiot.  Or I am.

Dammit.