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A Week of Moral Epiphany, Immoral Extortion, and Dangerous Rhetoric
By Carol Morgan"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
Just like the era of Dickens’ classic novel, there is no ambivalence of opinion in what’s transpired this week. There’s no middle ground. Depending on your views (or the degree of apathy), it’s either consummate evil or merely the reality of politics. Depending on the size of your pocketbook, it’s either predatory capitalism or a smart business decision.
The gang of immoral corporatists and their political vassals in Washington and state legislatures continue to do what they do best: Hold children, sick people, the elderly (anyone who can’t fight back) and the citizens of entire nations hostage, demanding they surrender and accept their demands.
A Wall Street hedge fund multi-millionaire named Martin Shkreli, who recently bragged on Twitter about spending $9,000 on a single bottle of wine, started a company that bought the rights to a medicine called Daraprim. The company then raised the price from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill. Shkreli had the nerve to go on CBS News and say, “….it’s a reasonable profit. Not excessive at all.”
The GOP holds our nation for ransom as they threaten to shut down our country over the funding of Planned Parenthood, when doing so will cost more tax dollars than leaving it alone. And regardless of what Carly the Horrible said, there is no video of a fully gestated baby about to have its brain harvested.
The truth is this: They don’t care about this, it’s merely click bait for attention, a political love song whose purpose is to seduce their electorate into loosening the strings of their wallets. “I'm one of you, but I need money to be elected!"
Had it not been for Judge Tim Sulak, thousands of disabled Texas children would be without therapy service because of the state budget cuts, while at the same time, Texas legislators were handing out millions to their corporate overlords who fund their re-election.
But after all, we shouldn’t hold up Texas as a model of logical thought, it’s the only place in America where you can have a gun, but not a homemade clock.
Ted Cruz, the ultimate Darth Vader of politics, corrupts youth by putting a child on the Cruz’ SuperPac payroll. His newest hired hand is little man, C.J. Pearson, who blurts out blatant lies to the media and broadcasts videos disrespecting the President. It's oddly reminiscent of Gary Coleman, sans Willis.
If this is the GOP’s best attempt at minority outreach, we’re not biting.
You can tell a lot about those who use impressionable young people as a human shield, to act as their personal pitbull, to do their dirty work for them and thus, maintain the illusion that Calgary Ted’s hands are saintly and clean.
At the Value Voters summit, he alluded to killing the Ayatollah and putting Obama in prison on his first day in office. It’s no wonder that last year, the police found Heidi Cruz crying on the grassy area by a busy freeway in Houston.
Like cold water to a weary thirsty soul in the desert, came El Papa. It was an opportune moment. We needed his words, his scolding, and his admonitions.
He made the humanists of America realize they were not overly idealistic or crazy, after all. Of course, Republicans, who ALWAYS want to inject religion into everything, didn’t think so. Predictably, they clutched their pearls and gasped. Many were outraged at his visit, announcing they were boycotting his speeches, publicly proclaiming it was injecting religion into politics.
The Pope’s visit and his humble request, “Pray for me “, was a moral epiphany, a Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus-moment, for one man. Read Robert Costa’s extremely moving piece about John Boehner after the Pope’s visit. Beware, you may need tissues.
There were many dancing on Boehner’s grave on Friday morning, after he made his resignation announcement, not realizing what kind of hateful devils will ascend to the stage now.
It seems as if there is nothing that politicians and corporatists won’t say or do to fill their wallets or shore up their fragile sense of self.
Children are no longer off-limits. The elderly are not off-limits. Religion's not off limits, either.
Banker/realtors everywhere will invoke the Bible to make a favorable impression on their unwary victims.
Texas steals the future of young people by limiting their access to a college education and forces seniors to live without dignity as they wait for death, the ultimate escape from their humiliation of begging for food, medicine and perhaps, some companionship.
It falls on deaf ears, however.
Those who worship the god of capitalism even employ their own offspring as props, cast, and cameo appearances for their political theater, and to ensure the future of their family financial dynasties.
On the right, there’s nothing that’s sacred; the most acceptable substitution is the religious rhetoric that, at some level, everyone, even their supporters, knows is a lie.
Move over Dick Cheney, you’ve been usurped by a new generation.
God help us all.
And I mean that with the greatest of sincerity.
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Carol Morgan is a career/college counselor, a freelance writer, and former Democratic candidate for the Texas House. She is the award-winning author of two books: Of Tapestry, Time and Tears and Liberal in Lubbock. Email Carol at elizabethcmorgan@sbcglobal.net , follow her on Twitter and on Facebook or visit her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org
http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2015-09-26/week-moral-epiphany-immoral-extortion-and-dangerous#.Vgde-pfziBZ
Permission granted to post Ms. Morgan's blog in its entirety.
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