Ubik – An Alternate Ending
As some of you may already know from my previous posts, I am a huge fan of Philip K. Dick. I had a recent project where I had to write an alternate ending to Dick’s novel Ubik. I’m not sure how many people who read this blog have read Ubik, but it is a fantastic novel that everyone who has even the smallest shred of interest in science fiction really should read.
I thoroughly enjoyed coming up with an alternate ending to this novel and I have decided to re-post it here. A bit of a spoiler alert, if you haven’t already read Ubik and you plan to, then I would advise you not to read any further. Enjoy…
----------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 18
When used properly, Ubik can help to
distinguish reality from fantasy. Keep out
of reach from children. Please follow
instructions precisely. Disobedience of
instructions can lead to distortions of
reality and severe hallucinations.
“I’m sorry Mr. Runciter,” the attendant said, “I can’t figure out what’s wrong. I checked the circuitry three times, just to make sure everything was hooked up properly. I can’t for the life of me figure it out, we can’t get a connection with Ella, it’s like she just vanished into thin air. I’m terribly sorry Mr. Runciter, perhaps you could come back at a later date and we could try again.
Glen Runciter stormed out of the moratorium. “What is happening? Why in the world is Joe Chip’s face on my currency? Is his face on everyone’s money, or is it just on mine? What happened to Ella? Why is there no longer a connection?” Runciter, moved swiftly down the street, looking for the nearest business establishment, hoping that his fears would not come to fruition. “There!” Runciter exclaimed. Swinging the doors to the Happy-Go-Lucky Convenience store open, Runciter ran up to the counter and grabbed the clerk by the shirt collar. “Give me a bill, I need to see something.”
“Hey, get off me before I call the police,” exclaimed the store clerk. Runciter pleaded with the clerk to see a bill to confirm his suspicion. “Sorry, I can’t open the register unless you make a purchase.”
“Here!” Runciter screamed as he threw a packet of gum onto the counter. The clerk rang up the gum, took a dollar bill from Runciter. Ding, the register rang open.
“Here’s your change, now get out of here, I don’t want any trouble.” Runciter took the coins from the clerk, looked down at them, and opened his mouth in shock.
“Damn, just as I suspected,” Runciter said as he looked at the coins and saw Joe Chip’s face on all of his change. “What does this mean?” Runciter thought to himself. “How can this be, I don’t understand.” Runciter walked out of the Happy-Go-Lucky Convenience store, this time with his head held low as he slowly made his way down the street.
“I wonder what happened to Ella,” Joe Chip thought to himself. “If only she could have been here to see Jory’s demise, I think she would have enjoyed that.” Joe thought of the past, of Ella, that last time he saw her, what seemed like years ago. “I wonder what comes after this half-life, is there some other sort of wondrous realm where we are fully spirits, rather than this dreary half dead, half live situation I’m in now.”
Joe thought about Jory, wondering if he was able to torment Ella and his former colleagues as he had in half-life. “Jory is gone,” Joe thought to himself, “but at what cost. Everyone that I’ve ever met here in this half-life is gone. The battle has taken everyone away from me.” Joe walked out of his office at the Takonami building, walked down the hall, got in the elevator, and headed for the ground floor.
Glen Runciter got into the cab, “take me to the offices of the Runciter Organization, at once,” Runciter shouted at the cab driver. His mind raced in all different directions, he pondered to himself how it came to be that Joe Chip had his face plastered on all forms of currency. “What am I missing?” Runciter thought to himself.
“Here we are sir,” the cab driver said, looking at Runciter in the rear view mirror. “That will be four dollars and fifty cents.”
“Where are we?” Runciter said, “I told you to take me to the Runciter Organization building.”
“This is the Runciter Organization building,” the cab driver said. “Where it used to be at least, the Runciter Organization went out of business three months ago. Glen Runciter’s jaw dropped, he looked out the window of the cab and saw a tall building that looked like it reached thirty stories high. “Four fifty please,” the cab driver said, this time his voice becoming more stern. “Please sir, I have to go, I have another fair to pick up.” The cab driver reached behind his seat and opened up Rinciter’s door. “I beg of you, I need to be going right away.” Runciter got out of the cab, reached into his pocket, pulled out the appropriate funds and handed it to the cab driver. “Thank you sir, hail Chip.”
“Excuse me,” Runciter said, “what did you just say?” The cab driver failed to give a response, he quickly sped away, the back door of the cab slamming shut with the force of the acceleration. “Hail Chip, what does that mean? Am I in some sort of alternate universe,” Runciter thought to himself.
Runciter crossed the street and headed for the entrance to what, according to the paranoid cab driver, was the offices of the Runciter Organization. He grabbed the handle to the enormously tall building and pulled, “damn,” Runciter said, “the door won’t open.” Runciter pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, “I wonder if these work,” he thought to himself. He put his key in the lock of the door, forced the key inside and tried to turn the lock, no luck.
Runciter removed his key from the lock, turned around with his back facing the door of the mysterious building, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit one up, and thought to himself. “How long was I plugged in to half-life at the moratorium,” Runciter thought to himself, “I just can’t figure it out. I went into half-life, met with Joe, gave him the Ubik, and that was it.” Runciter brought the cigarette to his lips, took a deep drag, when suddenly, a tap on his shoulder.
CHAPTER 19
The key to everything great and small,
Ubik, my friends, is for all. When everything
seems all concealed, trust in Ubik, all will
be revealed.
“Hello Glen, I’m surprised to see you here.” Runciter took two quick steps forward, turned around, and saw Joe Chip looking cheerfully back at him. “What are you doing back here among the half-dead, or half-alive as the glass half-full ones like to think of it,” Joe said.
“What the hell is going on here,” Runciter exclaimed, “what are you doing here? What am I doing here? Where the hell are we?”
“I’m in half-life,” Joe said, “the same place I have been for months now. Are you still at the moratorium?”
“The moratorium,” Runciter said, his voice quivering with fear, “I left the moratorium just a little while ago. I left, hailed a cab, got in, asked to be taken to the Runciter Organization, and here I am. What are you doing on my currency?” Runciter took a dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to Joe.
Joe chuckled, “this is great, I’ve always wanted to see my face on a bill. Am I just on the dollars? What’s the matter? They couldn’t give me anything better than a dollar?”
“This is no time for jokes,” Runciter cried, “you are on everything, dollars and coins. Now what the hell is going on here? Why am I here?”
“I wish I had a good answer for you Glen,” Joe said, “I’m as surprised about this as you are.”
“Then why aren’t you freaking out?” Runciter asked, “What is this building? Why are you here?”
“Relax,” Joe said in an attempt to calm Runciter down a bit. “Let’s go upstairs to my office and try to figure this thing out.” Joe turned around to face the door of the Takonami building, took out a key, put it in the lock, and opened the door. “After you,” Joe said to Runciter. Both men walked through the door. They walked towards the elevator, Joe pushed the button for the twenty fifth floor, away they went.
“What is this building?” Runciter asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Joe said, “I found this building shortly after I met with you in the hotel. I thought it was a creation of Jory’s imagination, but after I destroyed him, the building was still here.” Ding, the elevator doors opened, Glen Runciter and Joe Chip stepped out of the elevator and walked down a dark hallway with Joe leading the way. They made their way into a small, dingy office building. There was very little furniture in what was now Joe Chip’s office, just a small desk with two metal chairs on either side. “Sit,” Joe said.
“What do you mean you destroyed Jory?” Runciter asked, “How long has it been since we met in the hotel room and I gave you the spray can of Ubik?”
“I’m not sure exactly how long it has been,” Joe said, “they don’t seem to have an abundance of calendars laying around here in half-life.” Joe pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, “cigarette? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” Joe said, smiling at Runciter.
“I can’t seem to understand what you find so amusing about this whole situation we find ourselves in,” Runciter said, “give me one of those.” Runciter extended his hand and grabbed a cigarette from Joe.
“I’m dead,” Joe said, “half-dead at least. What is there to be worried about, I’m in half-life, Jory’s gone. I am curious about what happens after this, but aside from that, I don’t have too many concerns. And I must proclaim, as much as you don’t like it, I’m glad you’re here. I haven’t had any company in months. After Jory’s death, if you can really call it that, everyone disappeared. It’s as if Jory’s spirit sucked everyone else away with him.”
“Except for my cab driver,” Runciter said, “and the attendant at the moratorium, if I really am in half-life, they were here too.”
“They must have died and been resurrected in half-life after I destroyed Jory,” Joe said, “It’s all still really a mystery to me. I don’t have much more information than you do Glen.
“So what happened to Jory?” Runciter asked, “you saw me in the hotel, got sprayed with the Ubik, I left you, and then what?”
“Well,” Joe said, “I left the hotel, met up with Ella…”
“Wait!” Runciter exclaimed, “You saw Ella? How’s was she, how’d she look?”
“She was great,” Joe said, trying to reassure Runciter, “she saved me. I went to a drugstore to pick another can of Ubik, Jory was in the store. Ella saved me. She gave me a can of Ubik. Thankfully she did, otherwise I probably would not have had the strength to destroy Jory.”
“What do you mean? Runciter asked, “How did you destroy Jory?”
“It was strange,” Joe said, “after Ella left, I called out to her. I tried to get her to explain things to me, explain this half-life in more detail, but she ran off, never to be seen again. Anyways, to make a long story short, after she left, I wandered the streets for a little while. I tried to make sense of everything that had just happened, tried to figure out exactly what was going on here. Then Jory appeared, he came at me with a fiery rage in his eyes that I have never seen. It seemed a bit weird, for someone so young, so young looking anyway, to have such rage. Such a disturbed individual Jory is, or was. So anyway, he came at me, leaped at me, and knocked me to the ground. The can of Ubik I was holding went rolling away from me, into the street next to us. Jory grabbed me by the neck, held me down, began choking the life out of me while simultaneously sucking my spirit away, eating me as he had done with the others. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a cab appeared racing down the street. I tried to call out to the driver for help. The driver didn’t seem to notice. Just when I thought it was all over for me, the cab ran over the can of Ubik that had rolled out onto the street. The Ubik burst open, spraying both myself and Jory with the contents of the can. I felt great once the spray hit me, but Jory, the Ubik seemed to have a reverse effect on him. After Jory got sprayed with the contents of the Ubik, he began to degenerate, until finally, he just disintegrated. He was there, and then all of the sudden, poof, he was gone. After that it was all over, I haven’t come across Jory since.”
“That’s it,” Runciter said, he seemed surprised, “that’s all it took to defeat Jory, a little bit of Ubik?”
“That’s it,” said Joe, “Imagine all that time, that’s all it took.” Joe put his cigarette to his lips and took a drag, “but we still can’t explain why you are here Glen.” Suddenly there was a knock on the office door.
Runciter dropped his cigarette and look at Joe, “Are you expecting anyone?”
“Like I told you before,” Joe said, “I haven’t seen anyone since the Jory incident.” Joe looked in the direction of his office door, “Come in.” The door knob slowly turned with a slight creaking sound, the door swung open.
Herbert Schoenheit von Vogelsang came bursting through the door, “Mr. Runciter, thank god I finally found you. I was beginning to worry.”
“Beginning to worry,” exclaimed Runciter, “what are you doing here? What the hell is going on?
“I’m sorry sir,” said Herbert apologetically, “I’m so very sorry, there was nothing I could do, I tried to stop him and…”
“Stop who,” Runciter said, now pleading with Herbert, “Explain yourself, what in god’s name are you talking about?”
“I’m sorry sir,” Herbet said.
“Yes, yes, I know, you’ve said that already,” Runciter said.
“Hurry up and get on with it, spit it out,” Joe chimed in.
Herbert walked towards Glen Runciter and Joe Chip, “I’m…”
“Sorry, yes I know,” shouted Runciter.
“We had you hooked up into half-life,” said Herbert, “you were conversing with Mr. Chip. Then, a man burst in through the doors of the moratorium, he ran down the hall, found you in one of our offices, I don’t know how he got passed security.”
“Who,” shouted Runciter, becoming visibly angry, his face turned bright red.
“A masked man,” said Herbert, “he pointed a gun at you, he said, ‘this is a message from Ray Hollis.’ And with that, he shot two bullets into your chest. I’m so terribly sorry sir. He got me too. I ran into the office and tried to stop him. I tried to wrestle the gun away from him, and in the process, took a bullet to the head, at least I think he got me in the head. I was face to face with the man, he lifted the gun, pointed it at me, and then everything went blank. I never even heard the shot, I just saw the weapon, it fired, and that was it…darkness.”
“So that’s it,” said Runciter, “I’m dead, your dead, and our good friend Mr. Chip here is also dead. What are we going to do now?”
Herbert looked towards Runciter, “I’m sorry sir, I did everything I could.”
“It’s okay Mr. Vogelsang,” said Runciter, “tell me, how did you find me here?”
Looking to Runciter, Herbert said, “After I was killed, I found myself on the street. I walked for a little while, but nobody was around. Finally, I found a bar that seemed to be open. I walked inside, the bar tender, Pat I think she said her name was, said that I might find you here.”
“Pat,” Joe said, “did you say Pat?”
“Yes,” Herbet said, “I believe that’s what she said her name was.”
“What is Pat doing here,” Joe said in shock.
“Do you remember where this bar is Mr. Vogelsang,” Runciter said.
“I think I should be able to find it again,” said Herbert, “let me try calling one of my associates at the moratorium first though. I’m not sure if he was killed by the gunman from Ray Hollis’ office or not. Perhaps I can reach him.”
“There is a payphone in the hallway,” Joe said to Herbert, “follow me.” Joe, Runciter, and Herbet all walked out of Joe’s office and headed down the hallway to the payphone that was situated at the end of the hall.
“Do you have any currency?” Herbert asked Joe.
“Yes, here you go,” said Joe, handing Herbert a coin.
“Wait just a damn minute,” said Runciter, “Look at that coin.” Herbert opened his hand. All three men leaned in to get a closer look at the coin.
“Is that Pat,” said Joe.
Runciter took a step back, looked at Herbet and Joe, “My god, it is.”
THE END
Inside Information & Minor Changes
In case you haven’t noticed, my blogging has become a little less frequent than I would like. I apologize for the inconsistency, but I have been extremely busy with other projects. Unfortunately, this trend is most likely going to continue for the next week or so as I get caught up on other responsibilities. I am also planning on making some minor changes to this blog, which I will explain in a little more detail in a moment.
If anyone cares, I am a while male in my late 20’s. I currently live in South Florida, but I have also lived in Montreal and New York City. I am back in school taking college classes. This week is final week, one of the major reasons why my posting has been a little infrequent lately. I have also decided to seriously peruse another passion of mine, writing screenplays. As much as I love writing this blog, these other obligations have put a major dent in my available free time recently.
With that being said, I am going to make some minor adjustments to this blog which I think people will like. This blog was created with the intention of strictly focusing on politics. I am still going to keep politics the main focus of this website, although I would like to write about some other topics here and there. There are times when I just don’t feel like ranting about how the right-wing is pissing me off, and quite frankly, sometimes there are slow news days where there just isn’t that much interesting crap to talk about. So every once and a while, maybe a couple of times a week, I am going to simply blog about what’s on my mind and what’s going on in my life.
I think that these small changes will be good, and I would rather make these changes now while the website is still new rather. I sincerely hope that this change isn’t going to piss anyone off. My intent is to make the site better, not worse. I also think that these changes will allow me to post with more consistency. Like I mentioned above, there are some days where I’m just not that interested in writing about politics and rather than taking these days off, I would rather just write about what’s on my mind. I feel like this will make the whole experience of reading this blog more personal and more interesting.
I hope that people continue to read this blog. If you think this idea sucks, then by all means, let me know. I do truly think that this change will make for a more enjoyable experience at LeftLean. Again, I also think that this change will allow me to post more consistently because I don’t have to worry about finding some way to make my thoughts of the day tie in with politics. This change will simply give me more freedom and hopefully give you a more enjoyable reading experience. Thank you all in advance.
Comment Section Question Answered
I have decided to address a question that someone asked in the comment section a little while back. I was asked why the site requires an email to post, and also why the comments have to be approved by me before going live on the site. There are a couple of reasons why I have the comment section set up in this manner.
The reason why the site requires an email address in order to post comments is simply to stop fake comments. The internet is loaded with bots that will come to websites and post unwanted comments, such as promotion for other sites or products which can get extremely annoying.
The reason why I require comment moderation, meaning I have to approve comments before they go live on the site, is because I want to make sure that I read all the comments. I am in no way trying to censor comments. If you hate my blog and want to tell me how much you hate the site or me, I really don’t care. I require the comments to be approved so that I have to read all the comments. When I log into the back end of the site, all the new comments are highlighted. I like this feature because it forces me to read everything that people post.
So, that’s the reason why I have the comment section of this site set up the way it is. I think that this is pretty much how most blogs are set it up. If you don’t like it, you can send me hate mail or hate comments, I promise I will let them through.
The 2010 Census
In an effort to earn a little extra cash, I decided to help out with the 2010 Census. Sure, the work is mildly degrading, but at $15 dollars an hour for very little work, I decided to give it a go. I thought that most of the other people working with the Census might be college students looking for some extra cash, or recently unemployed professionals also looking for a little extra green. My assumptions were completely incorrect.
The Census apparently draws in people who, let’s just call them below average intelligence. I don’t want to come off as some arrogant intellectual who thinks that everyone else is dumber than I am; this is truly not the case. But believe me when I tell you that the incompetence that runs rampant among Census workers is stunningly scary. These are literally, people that have to be instructed how to properly enter their name on a Census form. I think that a requirement for employment with Census must be that you are able to fill out a Census form without assistance. I am truly scared for the future of this country. I am not sure if people have always been this dumb and I just never realized it, or if I have just been blind to the rampant ignorance flooding our society.
Bill Maher Becomes a Teabagger
Once again, Bill Maher demonstrates to us why he is great. Enjoy...
Jon Stewart Backs South Park
For those who don’t watch South Park, they did an episode last week where they referenced, among other religious figures, Mohammad. The episode, as usual, was great. I am not able to provide a link to the episode at this time because Comedy Central has, for now, banned the episode. A whack job fundamentalist Muslim group is quoted as saying, “We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid, and they will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.”
If you aren’t aware, Theo van Gogh was, among other things, a columnist who created a ten minute film which depicted violence against women in Islamic societies. Because of this short film, Theo van Gogh was assassinated. Once again, religious fundamentalist take things too far and commit deplorable violent acts against others.
Jon Stewart had a great segment on a recent show where he stood up for Matt Stone and Trey Parker. In addition to the segment being very funny, it also made a great statement about speech and the ridiculousness of religious fundamentalism. The clip is provided below. Enjoy…
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| South Park Death Threats | ||||
|
||||
Short Break
I have decided to take a vacation from posting for just a few days. I have a couple of other projects that I am currently working on and need to put some more focus into these other projects for just a few days. I am anticipating that I'll be back on Friday with a new post. Thanks for reading. I look forward to posting again soon.
A Mighty Pale Tea
The Tea Party is not made up of independents as they would like us to believe. In fact, their views are even more extreme than your everyday, run of the mill Republican. They portray themselves as non racist, and encompassing all nationalities of Americans.
We hear a constant barrage of, “we just want OUR country back.” They whine about government involvement as they take advantage of our social safety net. They scream for lower taxes as they take advantage of the tax cuts they receive.
They are a party of disingenuous, misinformed, unapologetic, right-wing morons who don’t seem to have the ability or desire to understand facts and figures. When presented with contradictions to their arguments, they act smug and blame the “left-wing media” for spreading lies. There is no reasoning with them, they are the Tea Baggers.
Charles M. Blow from the New York Times had a great op-ed piece today. Mr. Blow was present at a Tea Party rally this weekend, here is his account…
A Mighty Pale Tea
By Charles M. Blow
NY Times – April 17th, 2010
GRAND PRAIRIE, Tex.
On Thursday, I came here outside Dallas for a Tea Party rally.
At first I thought, “Wow! This is much more diverse than the rallies I’ve seen on television.”
Then I realized that I was looking at stadium workers. I should have figured as much when I approached the gate. The greeter had asked, “Are you working tonight?”
I sat in the front row. But when the emcee asked, “Do we have any infiltrators?” and I almost raised my hand, I realized that sitting there might not be such a good idea.
I had specifically come to this rally because it was supposed to be especially diverse. And, on the stage at least, it was. The speakers included a black doctor who bashed Democrats for crying racism, a Hispanic immigrant who said that she had never received a single government entitlement and a Vietnamese immigrant who said that the Tea Party leader was God. It felt like a bizarre spoof of a 1980s Benetton ad.
The juxtaposition was striking: an abundance of diversity on the stage and a dearth of it in the crowd, with the exception of a few minorities like the young black man who carried a sign that read “Quit calling me a racist.”
They saved the best for last, however: Alfonzo “Zo” Rachel. According to his Web site, Zo, who is black and performs skits as “Zo-bama,” allowed drugs to cost him “his graduation.” Before ripping into the president for unconstitutional behavior, he cautioned, “I don’t have the education that our president has, so if I misinterpret some things in the founding documents I kind of have an excuse.” That was the understatement of the evening.
I found the imagery surreal and a bit sad: the minorities trying desperately to prove that they were “one of the good ones”; the organizers trying desperately to resolve any racial guilt among the crowd. The message was clear: How could we be intolerant if these multicolored faces feel the same way we do?
It was a farce. This Tea Party wanted to project a mainstream image of a group that is anything but. A New York Times/CBS News poll released on Wednesday found that only 1 percent of Tea Party supporters are black and only 1 percent are Hispanic. It’s almost all white.
And even when compared to other whites, their views are extreme and marginal. For instance, white Tea Party supporters are twice as likely as white independents and eight times as likely as white Democrats to believe that Barack Obama was born in another country.
Furthermore, they were more than eight times as likely as white independents and six times as likely as white Democrats to think that the Obama administration favors blacks over whites.
Thursday night I saw a political minstrel show devised for the entertainment of those on the rim of obliviousness and for those engaged in the subterfuge of intolerance. I was not amused.
Taxes and the Tea Party
Yesterday was one of the most entertaining days, politically speaking, that I have seen in a long time, which came to us courtesy of the Tea Party. Tea Baggers all over the country took to the streets to protest the taxes that they have to pay under President Obama, as well as protest the recent health care legislation. There was, unfortunately, very little factual information to be found at yesterday’s protests, and the media had a field day exposing these mental midgets for who they really are.
First things first, the New York Times reported yesterday on the demographics of the Tea Party. The story didn’t really present any new information, but it is relevant for the rest of this post. As we had already suspected, the majority of the Tea Party is white, male, middle aged, middle to upper income, for the most are part employed, and get the majority of their news from FOX.
As much as it may seem, I really don’t like denigrating the Tea Party members for being stupid. I would much rather have the Tea Party composed of people who disagree, but are factually accurate and can have a real substantive discussion on policy disagreements. But when you look at all these Tea Party rallies, as well as interviews with Tea Party members, and even listen to the politicians that support the Tea Party, they have absolutely no factual information to back up their positions. It’s almost like they are proud of their ignorance.
Along with the New York Times story from yesterday, the paper posted interviews with twenty self-proclaimed Tea Party members. The things they say are absolutely ridiculous. There were literally too many off the wall comments to even sit here and list. One gentleman said that he doesn’t know much about politics, or about Sarah Palin, but he supports her because she represents “real Americans.” I could never understand what the Tea Party means when they say “real Americans.” Are the rest of us fake Americans? If we like the health care bill and don’t call President Obama a Communist, Socialist, and Marxist, then we are not “real Americans?”
There was another woman, her name was Pam Fales. Ms. Fales said that she is upset with government spending. This comment would have been fine, had it not been for her next comment, “we need to stop spending money on health care and start putting more money into our military.” Ms. Fales is obviously unaware of the facts. With a simple Google search, one can find the annual federal budget. The military is receiving 515.4 billion dollars, along with another 145.2 billion for the “war on terror.” Aside from the fact that the United States spends more on our military than every other country combined, the next highest government expenditure is the Department of Health and Human Services, which spends 70 billion. This is a large number, but mere chump change compared to the money we spend on the military. And you cannot simply blame the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the large military spending; the U.S has spent more than every other country on their military budget for decades.
The ridiculous, inaccurate comments go on and on. I am not going to list them all here, I want to get to other items in this post and it would take me hours to go through all those interviews. As the New York Times story mentioned above said, the Tea Party members are, among other things, generally middle and upper middle class when referring to income. This fact makes the protests, in regards to President Obama raising their taxes, a little absurd. Based on the New York Times demographics of the Tea Party, these people are getting tax reductions, thanks to the Obama administration. It is a fact that approximately 95% of all working Americans are receiving tax cuts under President Obama. Unless all of these Tea Party protesters are in the top 5% of income earners, which they are not, then what the hell are they complaining about? These people were paying higher taxes under George W. Bush than under President Obama.
Congressman Jack Kingston spoke at a Tea Party rally yesterday. He mentioned a congressman that said, “Don’t these people realize that 95% of them are receiving tax cuts under Obama.” Referring to this statistic, Jack Kingston replied, “If you believe that, then you believe that the health care bill will give you better health care.” This comment is exactly what the left is complaining about when they say that Republican Congressmen are spreading misinformation to their constituents. I believe that Congressman Kingston is well aware of the tax cuts, but he can’t go out there in front of the Tea Party members and say that all of you a receiving tax cuts under the President. They have to spread false information in order to get these idiots to vote for them. There is evidence of the stupidity and misinformation coming from the Tea Party everywhere.
The Boston Globe interviewed a bunch of Tea Party protesters from yesterday’s rally at the Boston Common. One couple by the name of Valerie and Rob Shirk, drove themselves and their ten home-schooled children two and a half hours from Connecticut to participate in the protests. Mrs. Shirk said, “The problem in this country is that too many people are looking for handouts. We have to do something about the welfare mentality in this country.” Okay, Mrs. Shirk is allowed to make the point that she is against welfare, until we find out that the Shirks, get this, ARE ON WELFARE! The Boston Globe went on to inform us that the Shirks receive Medicaid for themselves and their ten children. The Boston Globe asked her why her family used state-subsidized health care and then criticized people who take handouts. Mrs. Shirk told the Boston Globe that her husband’s income simply wasn’t enough to cover the family’s insurance costs. I have an idea Mrs. Shirk, why don’t you close your legs and stop having children, this way maybe you could afford them. These people are absolutely unbelievable!
Next, I read about Gene Theroux. Mr. Theroux was protesting “the movement to socialism.” Mr. Theroux is quoted as saying, “Where does it say in the Constitution that there’s a mandate for all Americans to have health care? This bill will ravage the health care that I get.’’ The Boston Globe then goes on to inform us that Mr. Theroux is a retired Air Force sergeant, who claims to like his government-run health care issued to him by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, but worries about what’s going to happen when 30 million new people enter into the health care system. Can you believe this inconsiderate asshole!? He is saying that he likes his government health care, but god forbid all these other people enter the system, they might affect my health care. Could Mr. Theroux been any more hypocritical? He could care less about anyone else, as long as his health care is okay. These people are unreal.
Finally, there is Anna Kaczowka. Ms. Kaczowka had a quote which I think sums up the stupidity coming from the Tea Party. Ms. Kaczowka is quoted as saying, “He’s a communist and all about the redistribution of wealth. It’s just the minorities and the illegals who are getting the benefits. Everybody who works gets nothing.” The fact is, President Obama is nowhere near being a communist, or a socialist for that matter (here is a link to a wonderful NPR piece that debated how much of a socialist President Obama really is). And this idea that only “illegals” and “minorities” are receiving benefits is completely absurd and false. By the way, Mrs. Kaczowka’s sister was in attendance as well, she blames President Obama for the loss of her job. I wonder if either of them is aware of the stimulus bill creating 640,000 new jobs.
In celebration of tax day, I would like to leave you with a list of facts that can be backed up by references, which I have provided in the form of links:
FACT: Tax refunds are up 10% due to the stimulus package.
FACT: As a whole, Americans are paying less in taxes this year.
FACT: 64% of Tea Party members think that President Obama has raised their taxes.
FACT: President Obama cut taxes for 98% of working Americans in 2009.
FACT: Americans pay much less in taxes than almost every other European country.
FACT: The idea that 47% of Americans do not pay any income tax is a myth.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
This idea being floated around by the right-wing, in regards to President Obama and the Democrats not fully supporting Israel because they support bilateral talks with the Palestinian leadership, is ludicrous. In fact, I would make the argument that the left-wing of this country has shown through their actions that they are in fact more supportive of Israel than the right, and significantly more so than the Christian right.
The right-wing makes the argument that we need to fully support Israel not matter what they do. Evidence of this was seen recently, when the Obama administration became angry at Israel’s announcement that it was going to build new settlements in East Jerusalem. The announcement coming as Vice President Joe Biden was making a visit to Israel. The right-wing argument at that time, was that President Obama is not fully supporting Israel when he condemns them for going ahead with housing units in disputed areas.
This notion that people on the liberal side of the political spectrum who are against Israel continuing to build new settlements in these disputed areas, are somehow anti-Israel is completely wrong. Everyone from both sides of the aisle wants to see Israel and Palestine achieve peace, but how is supporting Israel as they continue to build these settlements and pissing off the Palestinians achieving the ultimate goal?
The right-wing makes the argument that Israel should not have to compromise on land, including, but not limited to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and all of Jerusalem. They say that this land is the rightful property of Israel, and that they should not have to give up anything. You could certainly make that argument, but it does nothing to achieve the ultimate goal.
At this point in our history, it makes no difference which party is more entitled to these disputed areas. In order for Israel and Palestine to have peace, both sides are going to have to make land compromises, regardless of who can make a better argument as to who the rightful owner of this land is. If the United States truly wants to see peace come to the region, they are going to have to support a two state solution, and Jerusalem is most likely going to have to be either split up between the Israelis and the Palestinians, or they are going to have to come to some sort of agreement to share Jerusalem. Israel is most likely going to have to give up the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This is the only way that I can see peace being achieved.
The United States needs to be a true friend to Israel, and make it clear that we can only support a two state solution if peace is ever to be achieved. The right-wing will say that asking Israel to give up land that they claim is rightfully theirs is anti-Israel. This is completely false. Supporting a two state solution, with the West Bank and Gaza Strip going to the Palestinians, is a very pro-Israel stance. This is the only way that Israel is ever going to achieve peace.
Now onto the religious right, the only party that truly doesn’t care about Israel. For purposes of this blog post, when I speak about the Christian right, I am referring to the Evangelical Christians, the largest religious group in the country according to Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. These people are not pro-Israel. They pretend that they are, but make no mistake, they are not. Evangelical Christians only support Israel because the Bible, which they believe is the inherent word of god, says that in order for Christ to make a second coming to Earth, all but a few thousand Jews who decide to convert to Christianity are going to die. I am not making this up, this is absolutely true, and this is the only reason why Evangelicals pretend to support Israel. Evangelicals believe that Jews who don’t convert are going to spend eternity in hell, how can one make the argument that these people are looking out for Israel’s best interest. It is absurd.
The only way peace will have hope of being achieved in the Middle East, is if the Israelis and Palestinians can come to an agreement on a two state solution. The Palestinians currently seem ready to negotiate, but every time the Israelis build new settlements in disputed areas, it makes peace talks much more difficult. At this point, who is more entitled to the land is irrelevant. The Israelis think it’s theirs, the Palestinians think it’s theirs, nothing is ever going to change this. If the United States is truly concerned about achieving peace in the region, they are going to have to act as a broker between the two parties, and let Israel know that we cannot support continued construction on disputed land. I think that President Obama has made steps in the right direction, but every time he does, we hear cries from the right about the President not supporting Israel. This is not the case and should not be presented as such.
Archives
Recent Posts
- Inception
- The Lunatic’s Manual
- Hoping Against Hope
- Changes Are a Coming….
- Smodcast
- Ubik – An Alternate Ending
- Inside Information & Minor Changes
- Comment Section Question Answered
- The 2010 Census
- Bill Maher Becomes a Teabagger
Favorite Podcasts
Friends of Mine
