Scenario # 1

The year is 2026.  It's an off-election year, and President Rand Paul knows the GOP face very little opposition in these elections from the dispirited and decimated Democratic Party.  In fact, he sees this off-year election as an opportunity to showcase his Vice President, Rick Perry, and to add numbers to the 47 out of 50 GOP-controlled state legislatures--as if they need any help!  On the national level, control of the Senate is not a "given", as the Democrats learned in 2014-2024.  All it takes is being complacent, and a turn of 2-5 seats.  The House is pretty secure, as you can count on voters to bitch but vote for the same darn guy every time.
But to be fair, the legislatures of those 47 GOP-controlled states are pretty much staffed with figure heads--everyone knows the real power rests in the hands of ALEC .  ALEC has always been 2 steps ahead of everyone, all the time.  Back in 2010, the GOP put all their resources into state elections, and it paid off--districts were gerrymandered to ensure safe seats, and then ALEC went to work, drawing up legislation to be passed in states--Voting Right laws and Anti-Abortion Laws were their crowning achievements, and by the time the average American adult woke up, it was all over.  Now, President Paul is not only secure in his re-election, but has to spend very little money to get there.  There are such deep, grateful GOP pockets out there--ha ha!!!  The rich just keep getting richer, and once the Koch brothers learned how to sign on to Facebook, the ballgame was over. 
Not that any "average" American has time to "surf the net".....
The turning point was definitely Texas, in 2013.  Women's health clinics were closed throughout the state, and abortions after 20 weeks were banned.  Oh sure, women (and some men) were angry, just as they had been in Wisconsin, South Dakota, Kansas, Iowa, Virginia, and other states, but the GOP (and ALEC) knew the attention span of an average voter was about 2 days, and then they were distracted by something on television, or the internet....Add to this the fact that young voters, once they feel defeated by something, just stop voting, and it was the beginning of a GOP cakewalk.
Soon, Americans just forgot, because it was the law, and it really wasn't so bad, and well......it seemed like it was just the poor it really affected.  And, it's hard to be angry clear until the next election....
2014 was a really good election year for the GOP.
And 2016?  The GOP was ready for that sucker that got elected president--they had learned much from the previous eight years--distract the voters, keep the "riff raff" from voting, and bury the elected president under with "scandals".  Then there was their media--Fox and other "friends"--they kept the GOP base riled up and voting, and it worked!  By 2018, the Democratic Party never knew what hit them, and now?  It's like people don't care any more...
The GOP knew it had it made when Obamacare was repealed.
So, what's life like for Americans in 2026?
It depends.  If you're wealthy, things never change--they just keep getting better.  If your wife, daughter, or girlfriend gets into "trouble", there are plenty of other countries to fly them to, countries where abortions and birth control are safe and legal.
But here, in the good ol' US of A?

1. Women's clinics are a thing of the past.  With the GOP landslide wins, and the Supreme Court increasingly conservative, Roe v Wade was overturned in 2021.  The citizens of the US rapidly learned that the GOP and ALEC were not just aiming to prevent abortions--they were aiming to prevent ALL forms of birth control.  One by one, states are successfully passing "Personhood Amendments" (stating life begins at conception), and the Supreme Court is upholding them.  
2. There is not one organization left to fight for reproductive rights, or to actually fight for women and their families.  People became complacent, thought Planned Parenthood would always be there, forgot to mail them a check once in a while.  Same with all those other organizations fighting for social justice for all people. 
3. There are far fewer women in the workforce.  There is no maternity leave anymore, and with families getting larger and larger, most women decide it's less expensive to stay home.  Most families could use the extra income though; 5-8 kids are a lot to feed.  The average man has to work 2 jobs to support his family.
4. Less than 30% of women go to college or a trade school.  There's just no money to send them, or the money is spent on their brothers' education.  College is extremely expensive, and why would a woman want to go to college anyway?  She's just going to get pregnant and have to give up her job.
5. Most students are not qualified to go to college anyway.  Back in 2008-2014, after the financial crisis's hit, most states decided it was a good idea to 1) Cut education funding, and 2) Keep women from making their own reproductive choices.  So now, with so many extra kids in schools, states are woefully unprepared, there are teacher shortages, and class sizes of 40-45 are the norm.  Unless, of course, you can afford to send your kids to private school...
6. Prisons are overflowing.  Poverty rates are sky-high, so kids are not ready for school (Head Start and free early childhood education is a thing of the past).  Kids drop out early--to help support their families, because they can't learn anything anyway, or because the local drug dealer has made them an offer they can't refuse.  It's a vicious cycle:  poverty--->low education attainment---->prison...And to think we almost had a handle on it in 2014...Add to this the women and doctors who have been imprisoned for trying to end a pregnancy--dwindling every year, but still trying to get away with it.
7. Women are dying at a rate not seen since the 1800's.  Clinics are closed, the Affordable Care Act was overturned...women can't afford prenatal care, so there are far more complications during childbirth.  Women who used birth control to prevent pregnancy for health reasons do not have access now.  There are no exceptions for rape and incest, so the rate of children (10, 11, 12-year olds) giving birth is at a rate never seen before, and the death rate of these "mothers" is so very, very high.  Women who wish to end a pregnancy for whatever reason are resorting to the methods women used prior to 1970--coat hangers, "potions" sold by quacks (now available on the internet!), knitting needles, "back alley" doctors.  And many of them are dying.  Horrible, painful deaths.
8. Tuberculosis and other communicable diseases, once thought "extinct", are spreading so very rapidly through cities and suburbs in the US.  Larger families, a shortage of affordable housing, rising poverty rates, no affordable heathcare--contagious diseases are epidemic.    
9. There are just too many people on this planet, and far too few resources.  When women and men could decide when to have children, or even whether to have children at all, our planet stood a chance.  But not anymore. Clean water, clean air?  Ha!  The GOP deregulated industry as fast as it could, once it could.  Other countries followed suit.  Not that it really mattered--more people need more resources; resources that are not always in infinite supply.  And all those extra people, using all those things that heated up our environment?  The planet got warmer.  The drought of 2012 and the flooding of 2013 paled in comparison to what's happening in 2026!  Crops are failing at alarming rates, just as the population is exploding.  There are food shortages, and food riots, across the United States.   Animals and plants that were once abundant are extinct--eaten.     
10. Canada has closed its borders to Americans, and they are constructing a fence.  There are just too many Americans, desperate for affordable health care, desperate for birth control, desperate for jobs, for a better future for their children, just desperate--they are streaming over the border, and the Canadian economy just cannot support any more.

In 2026, there are a couple of bright spots, as President Paul is quick to point out.

1. "Illegal immigration" is no longer an issue.  Nobody has crossed INTO America in years.  
2. Marriage equality for all.  You see, with mothers dying in childbirth, and orphanages filling with kids whose parents have died from disease, or who just can't afford to keep them, it's "every couple on deck"--even those lesbians and gays have to be counted on to take a kid...or 4...
3. And, "God Bless America"!  The 1% have finally killed the last union--with all those extra citizens, corporations don't need to put up with any backtalk from anyone; you complain, you're fired.  And your family is out on the street.   

Think about it....my scenario is not too far off the mark, is it?

Mister Rogers Gives the Republican Response

If you are interested in watching the Republican response to President Obama's speech last night, I suggest the C-Span version. It's an uncut, unbiased version of Gov. Bobby Jindal's remarks.
As I watched Gov. Jindal walk to the microphone, I was struck by a couple of things. First, why does the Republican party insist on perpetuating the myth that it's a multi-racial organization? To refresh your memory, I suggest you watch highlights of the 2008 Republican National Convention--I haven't seen a crowd that white since, well, probably the 2004 Republican National Convention. I find it offensive that the power in the GOP insist on digging up the few members of color in their organization, thinking they will fool us all into believing they are truly a representative sample of their membership. We are not that stupid.
Then Gov. Jindal began to speak. My mind immediately flashed an image of Mister Rogers--this guy sounds like he's addressing a group of preschoolers. I tried to get over his delivery style, and focus on the substance, but it was difficult. The following are some notes I took while I listened to his remarks:
1) Talked about his father, having to pay off the hospital bill in installments after the birth of Bobby. Ummmm......most middle and lower class families have to pay hospital bills in installments--health care is so appallingly expensive that it's the norm, not a glowing exception. What kind of health plan does Gov. Jindal have? Could we all have that one, please--you know, the one that leaves nothing to be repaid?
2) He told another story; this one about a sheriff, standing up to the incompetent bureaucrats during Hurricane Katrina. Does Gov. Jindal not realize that those bureaucrats were appointed by George W. Bush, a Republican? And that most of America knows for a fact the Bush Administration contributed to the suffering after Katrina by mishandling and mismanaging the crisis?
3) I'm getting very tired of hearing the same lie over and over again--from McCain, Palin, and now Jindal. To paraphrase what President Obama said in his speech last night: he is NOT, I repeat NOT going to raise taxes on the middle class. Perhaps the Republicans think the middle class somehow includes people who earn more than $250,000 a year--if that is the case, they truly do live in their own little world. People in the middle class would be over the moon if they could earn that much in a year, or even in 2 years.
4) Democrats did NOT "reject the Republican plan". First of all, there wasn't a "plan" from the Republicans, and secondly, I can't count the number of times that President Obama reached out to Republicans in the days leading up to the discussion of the Stimulus Plan. Just 2 days ago, President Obama invited over 130 leaders, of all political persuasions, to a Summit on Fiscal Responsibility. He made a point of calling on Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), an obnoxious, outspoken critic of the Stimulus bill. President Obama asked for Cantor's input, for his ideas. Cantor's response? It was the biggest show of ass-kissing and boot-licking I have seen in a long time. Nothing of substance, no ideas, just "Thank you, Mr. President, for inviting us here today." Reminded me a little of Golum in "The Lord of the Ring" movies.
5) Jindal had the hilarious audacity to criticize the Stimulus plan for including money for volcano monitoring. Huh? God forbid we would want to know when a volcano would erupt, thus preventing another natural disaster. No, that would be bad.
6) Further, he decries money for high-speed rail. Then, in the next breath, he says the Republicans are all for energy conservation. Isn't mass transportation a way to conserve? And wasn't he listening to President Obama's speech? The part where he states the three most important areas to focus on are: energy, education, and health care? Jindal makes it sound like the Republicans were the ONLY ones to think of that.
7) It was especially gratifying for me, a blogger, to hear Jindal throw out that well-worn Republican argument for school choice. Here's the thing about school choice--if your child is not handicapped in any way, parochial and charter schools will welcome them with open arms. However, if your child has any kind of disability, that school is not required to teach them, nor will they be equipped to do so. Public schools are required to teach each and every child that comes through the door, no matter what. The United States is almost the only country in the world with this requirement, and we should be proud of this policy. Wonder why children in countries like Japan do so well on standardized tests? Kids with any kind of disability do not take these tests. In some cases, they are discouraged from attending school. It's easy to score well on tests if none of your students are ESL students, from an impoverished background, deaf, blind, or non-verbal.
8) Finally, I'm getting tired of the GOP mantra of "tax cuts", as if "tax cuts" will be the magic fairy dust that will turn the economy around. I'm no economist, but don't income tax cuts help only if you're actually working (i.e. earning an income)? Income tax cuts also don't help the poor or the elderly, who don't pay income taxes. Ditto for those individuals who are wealthy enough to move their money out of the country, or wealthy enough to hire a tax attorney to figure out ways to avoid paying those pesky income taxes. Over the past 20 years, tax cuts in general HAVE helped the upper class, and now the divide between the upper and middle class is a much wider chasm. Maybe the Republicans welcome this gap; if so, then by all means they should keep pushing their "plan" of tax cuts. But me? I'm putting my money on the other guy, and the other party. And I have economists who are giving me hope about the success of the Stimulus bill.
I really, really don't want to offer any advice to the Republican party, but if they are thinking about offering up Gov. Bobby "Mister Rogers" Jindal as their candidate in 2012, they might take to heart the words he sings every day in the neighborhood. You know:

"So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?"

The best thing the Republicans could do right now is to reach out, unselfishly, to their neighbors the Democrats, and get to work for this country. Politics be damned.

Facebook Philosophizing

I like Facebook, and I particularly like the "Status Update" section--I get to know, within about 2 minutes each time I sign in, how my friends and family are and what they are doing (that is, if they post something). Some updates are straightforward: "I'm sleepy", while a few are more cerebral; one friend likes to quote bits of poetry. Lots have to do with what is happening at the moment: "I'm studying at__________. Need company," and many have to do with events of the day. I like this section of Facebook because, well....I'm nosy. But most of all, because I care.
I try to make my update informative, humorous, and not repetative, and I try to do one every day. I am sometimes....OK, frequently......political, especially now, but I try not to be "in your face" about it--after all, I do have friends who (horrors!) don't always agree 100% with me, and I would like to remain friends with them.
So yesterday, when someone posted a Status Update that said, "I'm proud to be a conservative," it made me stop and think. I was wondering if she had been prompted to state that because of something I said? Was it an angry statement? A defining statement? Why did she say it, and most importantly, what did it mean?
I would have to say that this statement, "I'm proud to be a conservative," was the best Status Update I've ever read. Because it made me think. For a really long time--most of the day, in fact. First was the gut reaction, "Was it something I said? Do I need to apologize for pissing her off?" Then was the fun part, thinking about what it meant, and what she meant when she said it. My friend is more politically to the right than I am, but I think we agree on some social issues (for example, she knows I'm gay, and is still my friend). What does the word "conservative" mean to her? Am I conservative too? What does this word mean to me? I tried to think of ways I'm conservative: I believe in conserving our natural resources. I try to be conservative when it comes to using my car, and recently, have been thinking a lot about alternative energy, in an effort to conserve oil and other fuel sources that have become so politically "fueled". I'm often conservative with my emotions, and that's not always good, so maybe I'm not proud of that. I think this financial crisis could have been avoided if the people in charge of the financial institutions had been more conservative with other peoples' money--does that make me a conservative? But then, I must admit, I got off on a tangent--why is it that John McCain, Phil Gramm, and most Republicans going back at least as far as Ronald Reagan, believe on one hand in deregulation (i.e., we have no business telling business what to do), and on the other hand, believe they have every right to tell a woman what she can or cannot do with her own body? Huh? You cannot, logically, have it both ways. So then I thought, probably I'm not a conservative. But, when in doubt, consult a dictionary--maybe that would shed some light on what my friend was thinking when she wrote that.
From New American Webster: Conservative: "1) Opposed to change. 2) Moderate, not extreme. 3) Protecting from loss, waste, or injury."
1) Well, goodness knows I'm not opposed to change. I've spent the last 3 years doing a lot of changing. 2) I feel like sometimes I'm moderate; extremes of any kind make me squirm. 3) I am conservative when it comes to loss or injury--who isn't?
In the end, I decided I am sort of a conservative, but not really--especially not when you apply that very first definition (and I'm trying to remember my years of education--isn't the first definition supposed to be the main one?). I silently thanked my friend for providing material for a blog posting, and then I did what I should have done all along--I commented on her Status Update. I said I was intrigued by the statement, and asked if could she tell me more. Turns out I didn't piss her off--it was a slam at someone else. And she reminded me that she is, after all, a Republican. And what choice did I have? I responded that I like a lot of Republicans, including her.
Thanks to my friends for giving me things to ponder every day. I cherish that, and I cherish you.