I feel the need to drop a little truth on y’all. So buckle up…I’m about to be politically incorrect.
We don’t need to take America back. No one stole it. It’s right here…you’re sitting in it. Chillax.
Mexico isn’t going to pay for the wall and we’re not going to deport millions of people and break up families. If you think either one is a good idea, you’re not smart and probably not a person I want to hang out with.
We don’t live in a democracy. Technically we are a Federal Republic. But in reality we are ruled by an oligarchy. If you don’t know what that is, look it up. Reading will do you good. You probably need to do more of it.
FoxNews, CNN, and MSNBC have an agenda and are not “fair and balanced” or in any way unbiased. I’ll reiterate…read more. Read newspapers (even online ones). Read lots of opinions and sources and then (stay with me here), THINK! Form your own opinion based on as many facts as your can brain can tolerate.
Speaking of facts…there actually is a difference between facts, opinions, and propaganda. You should learn the difference. (Another opportunity to show off your mad reading skills.)
Science is real. We know things because of science. Don’t be afraid of it. You have an iPhone and Facebook because of science. It’s your friend.
Global warming or “climate change” as the cool kids call it IS REAL. Anyone who tells you it’s not real is not a smart person and probably should not be dressing themselves or caring for children.
Racism exists. And you are probably a little racist and should work on that. Seriously.
American Christians are not under attack. We are not being persecuted. We wield so much power in this country that politicians pretend to be Christian just so we will vote for them. No one is trying to take your bible away from you. The gay people are not destroying our families—we don’t need any help from them, thank you. We do a fine job of that by ourselves. So stop saying we are persecuted. You sound stupid.
Poor people need help. If you’re not helping them but complaining about how the government helps them with your money you are not a nice person.
Be nice to the people who teach your children. Don’t send them nasty emails or yell at them. Their job is 10,000 times harder than your stupid job. You are not a professional educator so just shut your mouth and be thankful someone is willing to teach your offspring.
You don’t know what Common Core is. You think you do, but you don’t unless you’re a teacher. So stop complaining about math problem memes on Facebook. You can’t do the math anyway.
ISIS is not an existential threat to the United States. We do not need to rebuild our military. Our military is the strongest, scariest, most badass killing machine the world has ever seen. So stop being afraid and stop letting politicians and pundits scare you.
Guns do in fact kill people. That’s what they are designed to do. If you feel you need a gun to protect yourself in America, you are probably living in the wrong neighborhood and should move before you go out and buy a gun. There are like a billion places to live where you won’t need a gun, or even need to lock your front door.
If you do own a gun, then make sure you know how to use it really, really, really well. Seriously…get some training because you still don’t know how to record stuff with your DVR. Go to the gun range and shoot the thing a lot. Learn how to clean it properly and be able to disassemble it and reassemble it with your eyes closed. It’s a freaking gun and it deserves that level of care, proficiency and respect. And for God’s sake, keep it locked up and away from your kids.
If you are even a little bit crazy, sad, or pissed off…you shouldn’t have a gun. And the Founding Fathers would totally agree with me.
Stop being suspicious of American Muslims. I guarantee the guy sitting next to you in the cubicle at work is probably more of a threat to you than any Muslim. He has to listen to your uninformed ranting day after day and has probably already imagined very colorful and creative ways to end you.
Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and all the rest are ENTERTAINERS! Stop getting your opinions from them. (Here’s where that reading thing can really be an advantage.)
Stop sharing Facebook memes that tell me to share or else Jesus won’t bless me with a laundry basket full of cash. That’s not how prayer works. And I don’t want money delivered (even from God) in a laundry basket. Nobody ever washes those things out and they just keep putting nasty dirty clothes in them. Yuck!
We are the United States of America and we can afford to house every homeless veteran, feed every child, and take in every refugee and still have money left over for Starbucks and a bucket of KFC.
Unless you can trace your family line back to someone who made deerskin pants look stylish and could field dress a buffalo, you are a descendent of an immigrant. Please stop saying that immigrants are ruining our country. Such comments are like a giant verbal burrito stuffed with historical ignorance, latent racism, and xenophobia all wrapped in a fascist tortilla.
That’s all for now. I feel better.
LaMonte M. Fowler 
March 3, 2016 at 5:26 pm
Who are YOU to tell ME, the one who worked my fingers to the bone, that I’m not a nice person if I don’t like the way the government spends MY money??? I help people who REALLY need it and I would do more but I can’t because the f*cking government has their fingers in my paycheck. I DO NOT want my money given to able-bodied, lazy people or people who are here illegally and have an entitlement attitude that for some damn reason I OWE THEM ONE DAMN THING. People like you are the reason why we have the likes of Donald Trump. You are one arrogant POS.
March 3, 2016 at 5:58 pm
Beach Girl, do you mean an entitlement attitude like yours? Go back and READ the article and this time don’t just skim and only light on the words that feed your attitude.
March 4, 2016 at 9:38 am
Your post is based pretty much on a false premise. SNAP eats up a whopping 3% of the budget- that means, ‘not much’.
There are a lot more ‘down on their luck’ working folks in that number than there are ‘lazy, able bodied people’.
March 4, 2016 at 10:49 pm
JJ Mc. I read the article and LaMonte is an “Oxymoron”.!! You need to Re-Read!!
March 11, 2016 at 11:14 pm
Oxymoron, the official acne ointment of the Special Olympics.
March 5, 2016 at 4:34 am
Beach Girl,
So many of the rest of us are tired of greedy self involved people who think this country is their own get rich quick scheme.
I bet you don’t have any problem with locking up millions of nonviolent offenders, most of them able bodies. You don’t mind paying for that, right?
The one here with an entitlement attitude is you and those like you.
April 1, 2016 at 4:21 pm
Move to Cuba. You’ll fit right in. Oh, but don’t demonstrate against castor or you’ll be locked up for your efforts. Obviously and bernie supporter.
March 5, 2016 at 8:37 pm
Beach Girl, It’s so much easier to avoid exploring the issues than to really look at them. Do you seriously think you are the only person in the US who pays taxes? And do you seriously think Donald Trump represents you? He doesn’t care two flips about you. The real reason we have the likes of Donal Trump is that people like you prefer easy answers and prefer not to think and read.
March 7, 2016 at 9:27 am
You are probably on disability popping pills or on unemployment as we speak. Only hypocrites are so stupid and mean to hate a poor person for no reason. Why give your money to the walmarts via tax exemptions? Tell me that smart ass.
March 7, 2016 at 2:22 pm
This is has to be satire. No one is this factually and philosophically challenged.
April 6, 2016 at 12:08 am
I wish I could be as optimistic as you. I just figured it was just the misinformed rantings of some long-haired, dope-smoking hippie-type.
March 7, 2016 at 9:21 pm
Your, right, the bottom of the North Pole is melting because, the gulf Streem slowed, the earth warms itself, the is aparently done by a government workervtobtwist the mind of the gulible, we are under attack and its not small citizens its people who demand to be known for piracy not good, stay sharp, the adversary is despirate right now
March 30, 2016 at 8:20 pm
*you’re
March 31, 2016 at 7:04 am
You are so ignorant that is hard to process. For your info Beach Girl, undocumented immigrants CAN’T, DONT get any government assistance what so ever. Even when you do things “the right way” an immigrant in order to receive any government assistance needs to live in the USA for more than 5years and paid taxes.
April 14, 2016 at 1:26 pm
Wrong
April 14, 2016 at 4:13 pm
The Trump crowd are so convinced they are “correct” that truth and facts are no longer relevant in their deluded brains and black hearts.
April 14, 2016 at 9:07 pm
How unfair and mean you are spewing crap that you have no information on and no way to back up try to be a nicer person when you have something to say then say it but make sure you have the facts there are so few around… and I really don’t think there is a “Trump Crowd”…. convenience is nice but sometimes it diminishes and obscure the truth
… not my opinion, my mama told me so it must be true….how can we expect the candidates to be serious when we can’t hold a truthful conversation ourselves?
April 2, 2016 at 6:54 pm
Idiot. The VAST majority of your taxes goes to the US military giant so they can get their KILL on, and protecting YOUR right to spew the utter bullshit you just did.
April 2, 2016 at 7:23 pm
Who exactly is threatening my right to spew?
April 3, 2016 at 8:21 pm
You are the most arrogant and condescending person I have encountered in quite a while. Maybe you should use your “mad reading skills” to perhaps become not so closed-minded and uninformed. Sir, you really have no clue. How your rant make it to the HuffPost and went viral is beyond me. It’s hard to believe your mindset is for real.
April 3, 2016 at 8:46 pm
sat·ire
ˈsaˌtī(ə)r/
noun
the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
August 14, 2016 at 3:17 pm
Does anyone smell a TROLL around here?…
March 3, 2016 at 7:51 pm
Thank you. Btw, I think I love you!
March 3, 2016 at 8:58 pm
Haha. Typical liberal hypocrisy. bullying people by calling them racist and not nice. What’s nice about calling people not smart?
March 6, 2016 at 11:10 am
It’s a rant. And it’s her blog. She can say whatever she wants.
March 6, 2016 at 11:11 am
He…his.
March 6, 2016 at 12:44 pm
Yep, I figured that out the moment I read your “about” page. I was linked to your post through a re-blog by a female blogger.
Anyway, now I’m following you and have all your pronouns straight 😉
March 7, 2016 at 9:30 am
Aww bullies who pick on the poor and homeless and hungry kids is sad cause someone called him a dummy… waahhhh!
March 3, 2016 at 9:47 pm
Nice… 🙂 Very well articulated and written. I would add something though to your article, if you wouldn’t mind :-). ‘Don’t talk about socialism, communism, left and right, unless you did some solid reading (as suggested above) and research in the field.’ American comments on these subjects are laughable. By the way, in today’s politico-economic climate (modern slavery, because this is not capitalism when both politics and economics in US are dictated by the big corporations and their lobbyists), these concepts mean nothing. This is from someone who studied and lived in a socialist country, and now lives in a Western ‘democracy’.
March 4, 2016 at 1:51 am
All great points except for the paragraph on moving because you live in the wrong neighborhood. People in those neighborhoods aren’t staying there by choice.
Yes there are ways out, but do you really think it’s as simple as that cut & dry statement when people can barely afford the ghetto? When banks and landlords/rental offices don’t even consider approving you, because you’re too “high risk” – only partially because of your actual credit which is a cyclical result of all the above? When there is a lack of opportunity and even when you do get there you’re being compensated below your peers? When a system built on racism and classism have you at a disadvantage from the start because you grew up in that neighborhood where funding and quality of education are lacking?
Reading the rest of this I have to think you’d agree with all that…. Which is why I’m rather disarmed and confused as to where such a discrediting statement fits into all this O.o
March 5, 2016 at 11:07 pm
I know immigration seems like a far too pleasant a term for the slave trade, but that’s not what he’s really saying. In binary term, your ancestors were either native to the US (Native American) or not native to the US (White, Black, Asian, etc.), which is to say, an immigrant.
Sure, some people bought tickets to the US thinking this side of the pond/border was so much nicer than their side. And yes, we call them immigrants. But the slaves were immigrants, too, even if the immigration was forced upon them by slave traders. This doesn’t make the trip as a slave into a vacation; it simply means the black slaves were not native to the US, hence the trip from Africa to the Americas.
Before you start a #BlackLivesMatter rant against the OP, consider a bit more history. Blacks still immigrate to the US, not as slaves, but willingly; not all Blacks in the US are descended from slaves. Also, the first slaves in the Americas were taken from the native tribes by Christopher Columbus and his crew; not all non-Blacks were free men and women.
He’s not denying slavery (that wasn’t even the point he was making); he’s telling anti-immigrant conservatives, the vast majority of which descended from immigrants, to stop being so anti-immigrant. Slavery is horribly wrong, but it’s also a whole different issue.
March 5, 2016 at 11:24 pm
My bad, wrong thread.
May 15, 2017 at 12:56 pm
This has made my day. I wish all poinstgs were this good.
March 4, 2016 at 5:28 am
Aw man! This had me nodding my head until the VERY LAST paragraph. #BlackLivesMatter, Lamonte. So please stop calling those of African decent *immigrants* by leaving their specific journey to The Americas OUT.
#SlaveryIsNotImmigration
March 5, 2016 at 11:25 pm
I know immigration seems like a far too pleasant a term for the slave trade, but that’s not what he’s really saying. In binary term, your ancestors were either native to the US (Native American) or not native to the US (White, Black, Asian, etc.), which is to say, an immigrant.
Sure, some people bought tickets to the US thinking this side of the pond/border was so much nicer than their side. And yes, we call them immigrants. But the slaves were immigrants, too, even if the immigration was forced upon them by slave traders. This doesn’t make the trip as a slave into a vacation; it simply means the black slaves were not native to the US, hence the trip from Africa to the Americas.
Before you start a #BlackLivesMatter rant against the OP, consider a bit more history. Blacks still immigrate to the US, not as slaves, but willingly; not all Blacks in the US are descended from slaves. Also, the first slaves in the Americas were taken from the native tribes by Christopher Columbus and his crew; not all non-Blacks were free men and women.
He’s not denying slavery (that wasn’t even the point he was making); he’s telling anti-immigrant conservatives, the vast majority of which descended from immigrants, to stop being so anti-immigrant. Slavery is horribly wrong, but it’s also a whole different issue.
March 22, 2016 at 8:26 am
Thank you for your well-known-facts drop. Alas, by responding to my ‘one-specific-bit’ to the entire post, aren’t you guilty of the same?
Meanwhile, I assure you I didn’t miss the CONCEPT of the original post, however, after too many days of excluding me and my kind to group us into the whole BY glossing over our uniqueness (i.e. Conveniently forget about it because it doesn’t matter to the majority of us ) it does prompt a specific reply.
June 2, 2016 at 2:44 pm
So you’d prefer it if everyone singled Blacks out as unique in every post, whether the point of the post covers issues of race or not, because Blacks were brought here as slaves, even though not all Blacks were slaves and not all slaves were Black, meaning Blacks weren’t unique in terms of slavery at all?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t one of the key concepts covered in the civil rights movement the need to end segregation? Wasn’t Martin Luther King’s dream about seeing Blacks and Whites coming together as equals and not as two wholly unique groups that should be treated differently?
And here I thought that #BlackLivesMatter was about how Black lives matter just as much as White lives do, and that cops need to start policing people as people and not as skin tones and the stereotypes that go with those skin tones.
If you want to fight against racist narratives, then find actual racists and prove them wrong. Don’t agree with them when they say that Whites and Blacks are totally different.
Slavery isn’t immigration, true, but true in the same way that apples are not planets. Native Americans enslaved by Christopher Columbus were native slaves; Blacks brought to the Americas for the purpose of slavery were immigrant slaves. One part of the terms ‘native slave’ and ‘immigrant slave’ deals with the person being subjugated by the institution of slavery, and the other part deals with whether or not their ancestors were native to what is now the US.
We’re all human – the problem is when some people feel they are more human than other people, even though it is impossible to be more human than human.
March 4, 2016 at 5:31 am
Aw man! This had me nodding my head and “MMM Hmm”-ING until the VERY LAST paragraph. #BlackLivesMatter, Lamonte. So please stop *calling* those of African decent immigrants by leaving their specific journey to The Americas OUT.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade Was Not “Immigration”.
April 1, 2016 at 4:34 pm
You mean the transAtlantic slave trade brought to us by African war tribes who were trading in African slave for centuries before the Europeans landed in Africa? Throw a little blame that way. I tire of folks like you who have been here for generations and still are looking for excuses. Grow the hell up.
April 1, 2016 at 4:41 pm
Yeah, Rob. The African tribes just wouldn’t let us leave the continent without taking some of those slaves off their hands. Like when you visit your grandmother and she sends you home with that jar of homemade picked pigs feet that will sit your shelf in the pantry for 10 years. How we acquired the slaves has absolutely no bearing on the unavoidable fact that other folks here in the US willingly bought them and used them for hundreds of years. Nice try at equivocation, though.
April 1, 2016 at 7:36 pm
Rob that argument is completely irrelevant to the subject. Being born African American in this country is like being a sprinter at the staring blocks in a race, only you’re the only one wearing ankle weights.
April 10, 2016 at 3:16 pm
Well done!! Brilliant!!
April 10, 2016 at 4:28 pm
Yes that occurred, but is completely non relevant to the discussion at hand. It’s obfuscation to addressing the real issue of systemic racism in our country. The bigotry is astounding.
March 4, 2016 at 10:09 am
I never heard of you before Huffington Post, but this article perfectly articulated my feelings, and even though I am an Atheist, I will continue to follow your writings. Thank you and Huffpost for sharing.
Patrice Borgmann
Cape Cod
March 4, 2016 at 10:22 am
We are the United States of America and we can afford to house every homeless veteran, feed every child, and take in every refugee and still have money left over for Starbucks and a bucket of KFC. But someone wants a bigger plane or boat …- F*$#K the farmers. – 1 example – Walmart kids are worth over a Billion $ each – each of them can use a small % of their interest $ for very good insurance for the USA citizens that work for minimum wage@ Walmart
.
March 4, 2016 at 10:50 am
I am a descendant of conquerors, not immigrants, you fool Go take a history class and get a perspective.
March 4, 2016 at 11:28 am
*sigh*
March 5, 2016 at 11:12 pm
Who knew the descendants of the diseases that Europeans brought with them could type?
March 4, 2016 at 12:14 pm
The passionate and frustrated side of me absolutely loves this rant. The logical side of me can see someone’s articulately logical counterpoint. A significant issue to the political divide is the lack of honest communication, and media is not only complicit, but it owns the major responsibility. Begin with Fox and their bombastic bellowing of bellicose bullshit. (I love alliterations) Follow up with the supposedly legitimate news sources of CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS who are all corporately owned whose number one purpose is to gather advertising dollars. We never get much factual reporting, or more importantly never get the media calling out misstatements, or blatant lies. The debates are a good source of entertainment, but are almost worthless as political information, because the moderator rarely call out a candidate when they’re just making shit up.There must be real time fact checking for the debated to have substantial value.
So, what happens then is people with an ideological frame of mind hear things that justify their beliefs, and enables untruths to propagate. The writer of this rant is justified in my mind, because the truth is the truth, and facts are facts. We can interpret how we perceive them, but lies do not become truth if our passions are strong enough.
The writer in frustration listed facts (truths)
“Mexico isn’t going to pay for the wall and we’re not going to deport millions of people and break up families.”
“We don’t live in a democracy, it’s a democratic republic”. But he is also correct that our actual form of government is an oligarchy, or corporatocracy.
Science is real. Global Climate change is occurring at an accelerated rate because of human actions
“Racism exists”. In all of us. Deny all we want, but its a human condition.
“American Christians are not under attack”. People who actually live as Jesus taught in the Gospels, particularly Matthew 22:36-40. Why many feel threatened is that the “Christian Brand” is under attack. People aren’t stupid, and can pick up on hypocrisy quickly, and promoters of the Christian Brand are oozing in it.
“Poor people need help. If you’re not helping them but complaining about how the government helps them with your money you are not a nice person.” And you are not a real follower of Christ.
“Be nice to the people who teach your children.” These people are the true heroes of our society.
“ISIS is not an existential threat to the United States”. They are a great tool for promotion of the Great American Military Complex. General/President Eisenhower warned us:””In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.””
Hand guns and assault rifles sole purpose is to kill people.
“Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and all the rest are ENTERTAINERS! ” They are paid millions by rich people to make middle class people hate poor people.
“We are the United States of America and we can afford to house every homeless veteran, feed every child, and take in every refugee and still have money left over for Starbucks and a bucket of KFC.” Truest statement uttered. But…..see above statement.
The biggest threat to our world is, and always has been religious extremists. Label them as you will, Muslim, Christian, etc, they propagate a sense of “US VS THEM” instead of “WE ALL”.
Just as the writer’s rant won’t change anyone’s mind, neither will my words, but they are fact based. I’m willing to listen to interpretation of the facts, but don’t tell me the sky is green and expect me to accept it without challenge. Truth is truth, love is love, and hate is hate.
March 4, 2016 at 12:17 pm
Amen.
June 7, 2016 at 6:46 pm
I love your reply but I do have to add a point that some of you “city folk” 😉 forget about with guns. They do in fact kill people and I hate the things, but I live on a farm deep in the country so a rifle is a necessary evil to have around. We have issues with coyotes in our area so the rifle serves as a protection for the livestock. It is very rare that it actually has to be taken out or used since we bought live stock dogs, but it is still good to have around. It is extremely important to also have a gun safe that kids have no access to. I myself will not own a hand gun though. I believe if you by a gun for protection than you better be willing to use it if you do not want to get yourself killed. I am a panzy. I would totally get myself shot if I attempted pulling a gun on someone else. lol Yikes!
March 4, 2016 at 2:00 pm
Resonate with this whole rant, but feel the 3rd to the last statement is offensive to Hispanics. “Such comments are like a giant verbal burrito stuffed with historical ignorance, latent racism, and xenophobia all wrapped in a fascist tortilla.” Otherwise would love to share this.
March 4, 2016 at 8:05 pm
Right, Mr. Fowler. Let’s change that to pot pie and offend the UK.
June 2, 2016 at 1:42 pm
If you would prefer offending hipster’s food trends, instead of traditionally Hispanic food, then: “Such comments are like a giant verbal veggie wrap stuffed with historical ignorance, latent racism, and xenophobia all wrapped in a fascist spinach flatbread.” Better?
Honestly, though, I doubt the original version would offend Hispanics. Burritos are food, not people. If he had said ‘a giant verbal Hispanic’ and ‘wrapped in a fascist Latino skin’, I could see the possibility of someone being offended, but burritos do not have feelings and cannot be offended.
March 4, 2016 at 4:51 pm
My only problem with your rant is that the people who really need to hear it or read it won’t. Because they can’t or won’t go beyond biased TV or radio and have no interest in thinking for themselves. Some of the worst offenders at swaying these sheep, are their Church leaders. I’m not an unbeliever, but I don’t want my preacher telling me to hate this one or that.
June 7, 2016 at 6:40 pm
I am not sure what church you are attending, but we avoid talking about politics in my church. We pray for all nominees and everyone in office. I am a youth minister and I have a young lady that has a mother that supports a candidate that I disagree with, but when she begins to debate with the other youth I change the subject to something more appropriate for our classroom. It is not my place to give them my political opinion. It is my job to guide them in their faith and answer biblical questions.
June 7, 2016 at 6:48 pm
I take Romans 13 very seriously. God is sovereign and we will get the president that he ordains. BTW…I attend Harvest Bible Chapel and Pastor James MacDonald never talks about politics in the pulpit (or anywhere else). That said, most of my church family would align themselves with a conservative political POV.
March 4, 2016 at 5:41 pm
Dear holy bebbe jeabus… the comments.
The butt-hurt..
The irony…
March 4, 2016 at 5:47 pm
Being a conservative, and having a brain, I figured I would read your rant with an open mind. But, three or four sentences in I literally pissed myself from laughter. You have got to be kidding me,
this is actually comical. I couldn’t finish your article because it is so full of holes it is beyond comprehension. Have a good life hypocrite.
March 4, 2016 at 11:26 pm
Greg, Instead of just commenting in a juvenile response, why not participate in an intelligent dialog and tell us why the rant is full of holes. It could be you have valid points that need to be heard, but your vehement statement doesn’t encourage any kind of productive conversation. Please use facts, not opinions based on talking points and share your perspective. If you can’t then you are part of the problem, and not part of the answer.
March 6, 2016 at 7:16 am
greg … couldn’t agree w/ u more. let’s attack everyone & anyone … bcuz they don’t think
e-x-a-c-t-l-y like i do.
end of greg reference … he may not aree w/ what follows, and i don’t want him forcibly lumped in w/ someone’s (my) opinion he does not agree with … THAT’S how grown ups do it … we don’t use the words “all” “everyone” “a majority of the people” “people w/ half a brain” … u don’t agree w/ me, so that equates to ur being stupid, racist, unkind, blah, blah, blah…it’s not that this country can’t AFFORD to feed & house all of the homeless, the vets, the LEGAL citizens of this country, it’s that they DON’T! they r too busy taking in more people, more homeless people & forgetting that it’s the peole here, excluding the scum that own guns of course … der … GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE! stupid or non-law-abiding people (98% anyway – pulled that stat out of my ass, but everyone else can “pretend” to know it all; i just wanted to play, too) it’s the stupes & the “bad peole” that kill WITH guns… if we don’t arm ourselves, we reallyARE the stupid people u refer to, bcuz EVERYBDY knows u don’t bring a knife, or peaceful loving words o a gunfight.
trump is a schoolyard name-calling bully … but when faced w/ choosing btwn him & shrillary? talk abt not caring for the American people … she doesn’t have enuf pride in herself to leave the man that made her a laughstock, when his intern saved the dress w/ all of her husband’s spuzz on the front of it ** she’s lacking pride, but certainly no slouch in the ambition department . my last comment abt her … her screech heard arnd the world “What does it matter now anyway?” i have YET to hear ANYone ssk her, not even ONCE … would it matter to u NOW & forever if it had ben ur precious chelsea over there? all of those soldiers were someone’s child … don’t play w/ other people’s lives until u r ready to play the same games w/ the ones u hold nearest & dearest … she will soon be charged w/ a felony (or two) … think the powers that be will demand her w/drawing fr the election process? think she’ll ever spend a night behind bars? if so, mr. whoever u r that started this rant, YOU could also use some good ol’ fashion learnin & trying to think for urself … i don’t want trump, i don’t want shrillary … u tell me who to vote for mr. know it all … i will process ur thoughts w/ an open mind … prob’ly still disagree, but i’ll give it a whirl…more than u can say when considering someone else’s opinion… RrT
March 4, 2016 at 7:24 pm
I have a rant too. Why should my hard earned money go to people who can work, but choose not to?! I know some people do need help, like the truly disabled and senior citizens. I am willing to help them. I am not willing to help someone who thinks that they have the right to my money. I can’t even get access to government help for my austic son and I pay into the system. Should t those who work have access to the help when they need it? Health care is a joke. I pay twice as much for half the coverage while others get it for free because they choose to not work. They can get job training and get a job! Did you know that these non working people also qualify for free day care? FREE and they don’t even work!, I don’t mind helping a single mom who is working with her day care costs if she is at least trying. People on government assistance don’t even try and don’t tell me they do because my mom used to work for the system. She knows better than anyone how it is abused
March 5, 2016 at 11:21 pm
I agree; my hard earned money shouldn’t have to go to people unwilling to work or who already have enough, which is why I’m against Corporate subsidies and tax havens for the rich. I’d much rather my tax dollars be used to help the poor and those who are unable to find a job because they weren’t wealthy enough to meet the right investors in college.
March 22, 2016 at 5:40 pm
The only time I have received any form of assistance I was working full time. One year I had the great luck to have BOTH cars break down at the same time. I live in Texas – my husband had to go far distances every day and I had a full time job as well. Between both cars breaking down, my health going to hell due to getting a rare autoimmune disease, epic ice storms making electric bills just to keep the house at 50 degrees incredibly expensive – between all of those things we still needed to feed our child and eat, and yes we got SNAP and no I am not ashamed of it. We work our asses off, it was humiliating and invasive to apply for it and I was questioned every step of the way. It is not an easy thing to do, and I had to get my employer to fill out forms (so, yay, they knew too) and send in multiple items over a month to prove we had no money.
I receive subsidized insurance because of our collective income. And you know what, if I wasn’t receiving it I would be out of work and on disability RIGHT NOW. The only thing keeping me able to work is over $4,000 worth of medication a month plus doctor visits and blood tests. If I didn’t have insurance there is NO WAY I could afford the out of pocket costs on this – and I couldn’t have insurance before the ACA laws because I had a pre-existing condition (a thyroid issue) and no insurer would have me.
So, would you prefer to pay for me to sit home and drool through pain meds or get medical help and remain WORKING and productive?? The number of people taking advantage of SNAP and other programs are very low, and many people work and have crap happen. That is what these programs are for.
March 4, 2016 at 10:15 pm
When I was about six years old, I cut my thumb. It was so deep I almost severed a tendon that could have rendered my thumb useless. It took 13 stitches to close it but as it healed, I would pick at the scab and it would bleed again.
When I was seven, I put my arm through a glass door cutting it from my wrist to my elbow. This was also a very deep cut. It took over 100 stitches to close it and this time, I left it alone.
I am now 51 years old and the scar on my thumb is still very visible but the scar that was on my arm is almost gone and very hard to find.
So what’s the point…?
This is how I view “racism” in America.
“Racism” is and was a very deep wound.
We try to close it but we keep picking at it. We won’t let it heal and it continues to bleed.
The scars of “racism” will always be there, we can never change that. However we need to let it heal!
Stop picking at the wounds of the past! Stop digging at it! Let it heal!
The scars will always be a part of our history but we need to let it go.
We need to learn, love, lift and help each other out.
Our past should never be used as a ladder to rise above anything or anyone just to get your way and shame on you if this is how you got there!
“Racism” applies to the whole human race.
Now grow up world!
Enough already….
March 5, 2016 at 10:28 am
You are obviously not of any race that has been disadvantaged by our system of endemic racism.
March 4, 2016 at 10:20 pm
When I was about six years old, I cut my thumb. It was so deep I almost severed a tendon that could have rendered my thumb useless. It took 13 stitches to close it but as it healed, I would pick at the scab and it would bleed again.
When I was seven, I put my arm through a glass door cutting it from my wrist to my elbow. This was also a very deep cut. It took over 100 stitches to close it and this time, I left it alone.
I am now 51 years old and the scar on my thumb is still very visible but the scar that was on my arm is almost gone and very hard to find.
So what’s the point…?
This is how I view “racism” in America.
“Racism” is and was a very deep wound.
We try to close it but we keep picking at it. We won’t let it heal and it continues to bleed.
The scars of “racism” will always be there, we can never change that. However we need to let it heal!
Stop picking at the wounds of the past! Stop digging at it! Let it heal!
The scars will always be a part of our history but we need to let it go.
We need to learn, love, lift and help each other out.
Our past should never be used as a ladder to rise above anything or anyone just to get your way and shame on you if this is how you got there!
“Racism” applies to the whole human race.
Now grow up world!
Enough already….
.
March 4, 2016 at 11:19 pm
Noelle, you are responding with a well used “Cadillac Queen” rant that has been disproven innumerable times. Were you aware that government assistance is only available to people for 2 years, and that is only if people are actively searching for work? Did you know that the amount of assistance is barely comparable to a substandard living wage? Along these lines, did you know that undocumented aliens from other countries get absolutely NO healthcare?
I don’t know about your mom, but I have been fortunate to receive help because of varying factors. So I lived it personally, and observed may others in the same boat as me.Your rant is an oft repeated spewing of misinformation designed to inflame passions.
There is help for your autistic son. Check into the county assistance where you live. I know there are programs, because I have been there (County offices, that implement federal assistance) this actual week.
Your rant is another perpetration of the “Us vs Them” mindset.
March 5, 2016 at 10:18 am
Our government needs to get its priorities straight. Our tax dollars are used for outrageous atrocities. For example, from the website of the National Institutes of Health: “The NIH invests nearly $32.3 billion annually in medical research for the American people.” Doesn’t that sound benevolent? Read it for yourself at http://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/budget. Be sure to read the details about the testing that is being funded (if you can find any that state the true realities without sugar-coating). It’s mostly worthless who-cares kind of experiments that use animals like dogs (particularly good-natured beagles), cats, rabbits, monkeys… all are tortured (a rather innocuous word for the ugly truth – watch this video if you dare: https://youtu.be/yGA9V4Eaij4) and then killed. And if you think it’s necessary to test cosmetics on animals or that we’re eliminating risks to humans by testing drugs on animals before doing human trials, then you are as naive as I was before I started doing some research. Drugs are causing horrendous side effects and even killing people every day because an animal experiment showed the drug was safe. I would much rather see that money used to assist the poor and hungry. From the FDA website: “It’s important to test medical products in the people they are meant to help. In the past, most new drug testing had been done on white men. Groups such as women, blacks, and Hispanics often were not adequately represented. It’s important to test medical products in a wide variety of people because drugs can work differently in people of various ages, races, ethnicity, and gender.” Oh, yea, they also state that “Potential treatments, however, must be studied in laboratory animals first to determine potential toxicity before they can be tried in people.” Oh really? You just said that drugs work differently in people based on sex, age and ethnicity but you still think animals are worthy test subjects? At least 4.5 million people have suffered “serious” outcomes, including death, since 2006 as a result of taking FDA approved drugs and that’s their own statistics. Again from the FDA: “Serious outcomes include death, hospitalization, life-threatening, disability, congenital anomaly and/or other serious outcome.” It’s apparent that animal testing is ineffective because animals are different from humans and process drugs differently. You can check these statistics for yourself at the FDA’s website where it’s listed as the Adverse Events Reporting System. This is just one example of government getting its priorities confused and continuing to fund something because it’s always been done that way. Those protesting are labeled zealouts, not unwilling benefactors or investors which is what we are. There are plenty of other examples of government funding gone haywire. Helping people is one of the more reasonable uses of tax dollars.
March 5, 2016 at 10:19 am
Interesting – the author says to educate yourself and think for yourself, but then calls you stupid and not nice and that you shouldn’t be raising children if you disagree with the opinions the author offers. I can read and be educated, form my own opinion that disagrees without being stupid and not nice. That’s when I stop listening to someone. When they tell me I can’t have a differing opinion without them slinging insults at me. I am fine with someone having another opinion, and I enjoy engaging in thoughtful respectful debate. When someone goes to the comments made in this article, it lacks thoughtfulness and respect. It tells me that meaningful discourse cannot be exchanged with that person. I ask, how can you be “open minded” and call others (in this article, it is aimed at conservatives) “closed minded” and write an article like this?
And the comment that is the easiest to disprove in this article is the one about guns. Tell Amanda Blackburn that she just needs to move to a better neighborhood – oh wait, she and her unborn child are dead after intruders broke into her suburban home and raped, tortured and shot her – you can’t tell her. Maybe tell her husband, who is now raising their toddler as a single widower. I’m sure he would be receptive. I live in a very nice suburban neighborhood and happen to have someone who moved in next to me who brings in prostitutes and drug dealers. So I shouldn’t own a gun and I need to move? Really? How about I own a gun and protect my home and property. Dangerous people are everywhere. Cherry Hill had a horrible drug dealer just a few years ago. So that’s not the right neighborhood?
And about helping the poor? I am all for it – and I think I live that out. I just don’t want the biggest waster of money (the government) handling that donation because they waste most of it. I think I’ll choose organizations that I know spend it wisely. Believe me, I’ve experienced the waste and misuse of power first hand as a foster parent dealing with Dcs. And I know that’s not even the tip of the iceberg.
See – no insults thrown at anyone who disagrees with me. But I can thoughtfully and strongly state my opinion with evidence to back it up. That’s the beauty of living in a representative republic such as ours. We have lots of perspectives that COULD come together and do great things, if only we would stop insulting each other and start acting like grown ups whose parents taught us manners.
March 5, 2016 at 11:34 am
“Be nice to the people who teach your children. Don’t send them nasty emails or yell at them. Their job is 10,000 times harder than your stupid job”.
Geez, really? That’s the worst generalization I’ve ever heard and it’s so arrogant that it actually made me question everything else you said.
March 5, 2016 at 12:06 pm
Katie…it’s called hyberbole, a common dialectic tactic to elicit an emotional response from the reader. Chillax. 😉
March 5, 2016 at 4:12 pm
Ok. when YOU do it, it’s hyperbole. I get it…
March 29, 2016 at 3:33 pm
Mr. LaMonte M. Fowler, as I am sure you are learning that using words like “hyperbole,” or using any figurative language, or satire or sarcasm renders your hilarious and accurate rant incomprehensible to many Americans. Our President learned that when he declared ISIS is not an existential ( too many syllables!) threat to America! How dare he say something like that about our country!!! I taught English at the high school and college level for 25 years; we face an uphill battle. My goal was to teach students that they would not be accepted into any university if they wrote, “I plan to go to collage and become a vet,” and that any essay beginning with, “Americans have the right to bare arms” would not earn them an “A!” Thank you for a brilliant rant that I have shared with many.
March 29, 2016 at 3:36 pm
Most days I just sigh my way through conversations with the masses. Thanks for your service in trying to educate the unwilling ninnyhammers.
March 5, 2016 at 2:47 pm
I wish to respond to your last line, ” you feel better now” I don’t feel better because you my friend represent everything I feel is wrong with America. I knew your every stance represents what the Socialist party believes also. I have a lot to say will post and with proof that proves you are not smart as you a Narcissist, thinks you are at a later time as you say read,read,read!
March 6, 2016 at 7:26 am
greg … couldn’t agree w/ u more. let’s attack everyone & anyone … bcuz they don’t think
e-x-a-c-t-l-y like i do.
end of greg reference … he may not aree w/ what follows, and i don’t want him forcibly lumped in w/ someone’s (my) opinion he does not agree with … THAT’S how grown ups do it … we don’t use the words “all” “everyone” “a majority of the people” “people w/ half a brain” … u don’t agree w/ me, so that equates to ur being stupid, racist, unkind, blah, blah, blah…it’s not that this country can’t AFFORD to feed & house all of the homeless, the vets, the LEGAL citizens of this country, it’s that they DON’T! they r too busy taking in more people, more homeless people & forgetting that it’s the peole here, excluding the scum that own guns of course … der … GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE! stupid or non-law-abiding people (98% anyway – pulled that stat out of my ass, but everyone else can “pretend” to know it all; i just wanted to play, too) it’s the stupes & the “bad peole” that kill WITH guns… if we don’t arm ourselves, we reallyARE the stupid people u refer to, bcuz EVERYBDY knows u don’t bring a knife, or peaceful loving words o a gunfight.
trump is a schoolyard name-calling bully … but when faced w/ choosing btwn him & shrillary? talk abt not caring for the American people … she doesn’t have enuf pride in herself to leave the man that made her a laughstock, when his intern saved the dress w/ all of her husband’s spuzz on the front of it ** she’s lacking pride, but certainly no slouch in the ambition department . my last comment abt her … her screech heard arnd the world “What does it matter now anyway?” i have YET to hear ANYone ssk her, not even ONCE … would it matter to u NOW & forever if it had ben ur precious chelsea over there? all of those soldiers were someone’s child … don’t play w/ other people’s lives until u r ready to play the same games w/ the ones u hold nearest & dearest … she will soon be charged w/ a felony (or two) … think the powers that be will demand her w/drawing fr the election process? think she’ll ever spend a night behind bars? if so, mr. whoever u r that started this rant, YOU could also use some good ol’ fashion learnin & trying to think for urself … i don’t want trump, i don’t want shrillary … u tell me who to vote for mr. know it all … i will process ur thoughts w/ an open mind … prob’ly still disagree, but i’ll give it a whirl…more than u can say when considering someone else’s opinion… RrT
March 29, 2016 at 3:49 pm
Joetta Scroggham, HUH??? “…you are not smart as you a Narcissist, thinks you are at a later time as you say read, read, read?? ” I just broke out in an English teacher rash!
March 29, 2016 at 3:50 pm
That made me snort. 😉
April 11, 2016 at 11:15 pm
Darlene Goodman…you said you were a teacher? And English, too? Amazing! ‘Cause let me tell you darlin’, it’s right to ‘bear’ arms not ‘bare’ arms… and…hello! I found something else…it’s ‘college’ and not ‘collage’. Jeez! 25 years of teaching experience. Really? The Prez. has a right to say whatsoever he deems necessary for the country’s safety…It’s also HIS country not just YOURS or MINE. At least he won’t be flying around in a jet like the coward Bush was when WTC came down. What grade would you give yourself, I wonder…
June 2, 2016 at 2:10 pm
Clearly, English comprehension isn’t your strong suit. Darlene was listing examples of some of the poor grammar she’s seen and lumping Joetta in with the students who wrote that sort of nonsense. The quotation marks should have been a dead giveaway, even if you were confused by the context.
Now, if only we could get all, or at least most, of r.thompson’s comments removed. How many times does (s)he have to post the exact same jumbled diatribe in text message formatting? When a person or bot comment spams their own comment spam, that’s pretty bad.
June 2, 2016 at 5:49 pm
Who are you and what in the heck are you talking about??!
June 6, 2016 at 10:28 pm
Thank you, Sheila! I like intelligent people!
June 2, 2016 at 6:00 pm
I read your rant several times, buy still don’t know what you are ranting about. Of course it is ” the right to bear arms.” As for “collage,” it is correct if you mean an art piece. I do not know how President Obama fits into your rant, but I agree that he can say anything he wants to say. I spent most of one year campaigning for him. I also agree with you assessment of bushy. Other than that, I don’t understand what you are attempting to say. Yes, I taught English for 21 years. And you??!
June 2, 2016 at 6:39 pm
I read your rant several times, buy (BUT) still don’t know what you are ranting about.(BUT AM STILL UNCLEAR ABOUT THAT WHICH YOU ARE RANTING)
(NEW PARAGRAPH)
Of course it is ” the right to bear arms.”(NO SPACE NEEDED AFTER QUOTATION MARK AND THE WORD “the”). As for “collage,” it is correct if you mean an art piece.
(NEW PARAGRAPGH)
I do not know how President Obama fits into your rant, but I agree that he can say anything he wants to say. (BUT AGREE HE CAN SAY ANYTHING HE WANTS) I spent most of one year campaigning for him. (IRRELEVANT SENTENCE TO THE PARAGRAGH UNLESS CONNECTED TO THE ARGUMENT)
(NEW PARAGRAPGH)
I also agree with you (YOUR) assessment of bushy. (BUSHY) Other than that, I don’t understand what you are attempting to say. (I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE POINT YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE)
(NEW PARAGRAPH)
Yes, I taught English for 21 years. And you??!
(Apologies, just being a d**k here as I have too much time on my hands.)
June 6, 2016 at 10:59 pm
As I am sure you already know, rules established in the 1700’s, based on grammar rules for Latin, do not apply to the English language. “BUT AM STILL UNCLEAR ABOUT THAT WHICH YOU ARE RANTING??!” Do you really thing that convoluted statement, in all caps, is correct? I am sorry you have nothing else to keep you busy. There are some great free language and grammar classes offered online that you might enjoy. Boredom sounds unpleasant, but with my substitute teaching, my 1 1/2 acres to plant,water, and weed, my 11 pets, my job proofreading for a local author, and my online classes, I can’t speak from experience.
June 6, 2016 at 11:09 pm
I understand it looked as if I were ranting, I apologize. I used caps to denote my comments from yours, I should have used italics.
March 6, 2016 at 5:11 am
Reblogged this on wolframpublications.
March 6, 2016 at 8:02 am
greg … couldn’t agree w/ u more. let’s attack everyone & anyone … bcuz they don’t thinke-x-a-c-t-l-y like i do. end of greg reference … he may not aree w/ what follows, and i don’t want him forcibly lumped in w/ someone’s (my) opinion he does not agree with … THAT’S how grown ups do it … we don’t use the words “all” “everyone” “a majority of the people” “people w/ half a brain” … u don’t agree w/ me, so that equates to ur being stupid, racist, unkind, blah, blah, blah…it’s not that this country can’t AFFORD to feed & house all of the homeless, the vets, the LEGAL citizens of this country, it’s that they DON’T! they r too busy taking in more people, more homeless people & forgetting that it’s the peole here, excluding the scum that own guns of course … der … GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE! stupid or non-law-abiding people (98% anyway – pulled that stat out of my ass, but everyone else can “pretend” to know it all; i just wanted to play, too) it’s the stupes & the “bad peole” that kill WITH guns… if we don’t arm ourselves, we reallyARE the stupid people u refer to, bcuz EVERYBDY knows u don’t bring a knife, or peaceful loving words o a gunfight.trump is a schoolyard name-calling bully … but when faced w/ choosing btwn him & shrillary? talk abt not caring for the American people … she doesn’t have enuf pride in herself to leave the man that made her a laughstock, when his intern saved the dress w/ all of her husband’s spuzz on the front of it ** she’s lacking pride, but certainly no slouch in the ambition department . my last comment abt her … her screech heard arnd the world “What does it matter now anyway?” i have YET to hear ANYone ssk her, not even ONCE … would it matter to u NOW & forever if it had ben ur precious chelsea over there? all of those soldiers were someone’s child … don’t play w/ other people’s lives until u r ready to play the same games w/ the ones u hold nearest & dearest … she will soon be charged w/ a felony (or two) … think the powers that be will demand her w/drawing fr the election process? think she’ll ever spend a night behind bars? if so, mr. whoever u r that started this rant, YOU could also use some good ol’ fashion learnin & trying to think for urself … i don’t want trump, i don’t want shrillary … u tell me who to vote for mr. know it all … i will process ur thoughts w/ an open mind … prob’ly still disagree, but i’ll give it a whirl…more than u can say when considering someone else’s opinion… RrTSent from Yahoo Mail on Android
March 6, 2016 at 7:22 am
greg … couldn’t agree w/ u more. let’s attack everyone & anyone … bcuz they don’t think
e-x-a-c-t-l-y like i do.
end of greg reference … he may not aree w/ what follows, and i don’t want him forcibly lumped in w/ someone’s (my) opinion he does not agree with … THAT’S how grown ups do it … we don’t use the words “all” “everyone” “a majority of the people” “people w/ half a brain” … u don’t agree w/ me, so that equates to ur being stupid, racist, unkind, blah, blah, blah…it’s not that this country can’t AFFORD to feed & house all of the homeless, the vets, the LEGAL citizens of this country, it’s that they DON’T! they r too busy taking in more people, more homeless people & forgetting that it’s the peole here, excluding the scum that own guns of course … der … GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE! stupid or non-law-abiding people (98% anyway – pulled that stat out of my ass, but everyone else can “pretend” to know it all; i just wanted to play, too) it’s the stupes & the “bad peole” that kill WITH guns… if we don’t arm ourselves, we reallyARE the stupid people u refer to, bcuz EVERYBDY knows u don’t bring a knife, or peaceful loving words o a gunfight.
trump is a schoolyard name-calling bully … but when faced w/ choosing btwn him & shrillary? talk abt not caring for the American people … she doesn’t have enuf pride in herself to leave the man that made her a laughstock, when his intern saved the dress w/ all of her husband’s spuzz on the front of it ** she’s lacking pride, but certainly no slouch in the ambition department . my last comment abt her … her screech heard arnd the world “What does it matter now anyway?” i have YET to hear ANYone ssk her, not even ONCE … would it matter to u NOW & forever if it had ben ur precious chelsea over there? all of those soldiers were someone’s child … don’t play w/ other people’s lives until u r ready to play the same games w/ the ones u hold nearest & dearest … she will soon be charged w/ a felony (or two) … think the powers that be will demand her w/drawing fr the election process? think she’ll ever spend a night behind bars? if so, mr. whoever u r that started this rant, YOU could also use some good ol’ fashion learnin & trying to think for urself … i don’t want trump, i don’t want shrillary … u tell me who to vote for mr. know it all … i will process ur thoughts w/ an open mind … prob’ly still disagree, but i’ll give it a whirl…more than u can say when considering someone else’s opinion… RrT
March 6, 2016 at 7:33 am
why is my response not showing up in ur comments?
June 2, 2016 at 2:16 pm
Perhaps because you’ve been spamming the same hot, rambling, nonsensical mess, using at least 3 different accounts, all over this page. In fact, if your posts were deleted, the comment section would probably shrink to about 60% to 70% of its current size.
Nobody likes a spammer.
March 6, 2016 at 8:45 am
I’m so poor since Barack Obama got elected that I’ve been sleeping on the sidewalk in for the past 7 years. Before that I was on my way to becoming a very rich man. And I don’t need any help from you, any of your liberal friends or any of your damned government programs. I’m not on any government hand-out programs. Those programs are for losers. And just like I’m not anybody that you would want to hang out the feelings are mutual. I read your little rant here. You’re a patronizing little asshole. Go fuck yourself .
March 6, 2016 at 9:34 am
I’m no math teacher, and I do read, Please don’t comment on common core unless you have done “some” research my friend. You clearly haven’t. Next time you mention it I hope that you have some understanding of it other than it is math. Maybe you should look at what India is doing in their schools.
March 6, 2016 at 9:49 am
Since the Black Man was elected we’ve heard nothing but rants from the Koch Bros created Tea Party, Faux News, multimillionaire entertainers like Limbaugh and Beck, the corporately owned Repubs in Congress, and the corporately owned “legitimate” news sources don’t have the testicular fortitude to call out lies or tell the truth.
This blog was a rant born of frustration, and was simply that….,.a rant. But a rant built upon truth and facts easily determined.
This was not a dialog or an invitation to have civility based discourse. I can understand why not, because whenever calmer heads attempt such conversation there are always vehement replies like those found here that are based upon opinion and usually hatred. That’s why conversation seems fruitless these days.
It’s a frustrated rant that is well deserved, timely, and swollen with FACTS.
Congratulations to the author for ranting the things that reasonable can see. If this rant gets your undies in a bunch, don’t waste your time spreading your lies and made up scenarios here. Pull up your big girl undies and go turn on Faux news until their lies justify your anger and hatred and you calm down.
And remember, the Black Man only has a few months left in office before ……wait for it….the WOMAN takes office. Then you can get your hate on all over again.
But for now, if truth is to you like holy water to a vampire, just go away.
This is was a rant, not an invitation for conversation.
March 6, 2016 at 10:22 am
The first I heard of Lamonte M. Fowler was from this article today on Huffpost and I must admit I was blown away. I’ve been writing from a similar point of view, for the last five years at various sites and in about 750,000 words I’ve perhaps just equaled what you’ve written in this one piece. That is the difference between someone who writes like me and someone who is a real writer. As an SF fan since the 50’s and somewhat of a history book I was excited to see the Ur books and can’t wait to download and read them. This is I guess a (new) fan letter and I am excited to delve into your work.
March 6, 2016 at 10:23 am
Thanks so much!
March 6, 2016 at 10:38 am
Reblogged this on velissima and commented:
Not much I can add.
March 6, 2016 at 11:12 am
Great post. Couldn’t agree more.
March 6, 2016 at 12:38 pm
Maybe…….maybe the best article I’ve had the pleasure of reading on Facebook.
March 6, 2016 at 12:40 pm
Thanks so much!
March 6, 2016 at 2:59 pm
If the same opinions as yours are held by the silent majority of US Citizens then there is hope for us in the rest of the World. As we observe the candidates for the most powerful office on the planet acting like schoolchildren, we all need to know that there are people like you who will be voting.
March 6, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Great post. Just one quibble:
I was a teacher. I do, in fact, understand math. I was an engineering major before I became a teacher, I had to understand. I’ve switched careers over to the IT world, and I still have understand it.
Common Core sucks. From every perspective. There is a way to teach math that makes it approachable and understandable, and this isn’t it.
March 6, 2016 at 7:56 pm
Unfortunately Mr. Fowler, you do not have a clue about the USA– We do not have enough of anything to feed every child and every refugee–17, 000 american children go to bed hungry every nite. Sftop and think, Mr. Fowler, there are 8 billion people in this world with millions more being born every single day. You are so far away with your magical thinking. I for one do not want my country to become another 3rd world. People like you are empowering that evolution.
I will fight everyday to have a “wall built” and to enforce our immigration laws. I refuse to live a life of chaos. You may want to do that and that is your prerogative. But I will fight your grandiose, and childish thinking as long as I have breath. Thanks for the good work you do, even if your mindset is off base.
March 6, 2016 at 8:43 pm
This is fear based thinking that is not grounded in factual data. So sad. Turn off Faux news.
March 7, 2016 at 12:42 pm
I work with proven facts only—not magical thinking
March 29, 2016 at 3:55 pm
Kathryn Kobor, exactly what is a “proven fact,” as opposed to an “unproven fact?”
March 29, 2016 at 3:58 pm
Stop…you’re going to make me pee my pants.
March 7, 2016 at 4:58 pm
Incidentally we all were and are immigrants. What is the big deal on that? The first cave man to exit a cave was an immigrant. so stop using that as a defense to promote the destruction of civilized countries. Thing about it—-NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS
March 12, 2016 at 12:51 pm
LOVE EVERY DANG WORD OF YOUR RANT. Keep on ranting. I need the inspiration in times like these.
March 14, 2016 at 2:19 am
Reblogged this on Reading, Drinking and Dancing with a Chaser of Snark and commented:
I read Lamonte Fowler’s piece when it was published on the Huffington Post, as it was going viral.
Since then, actions at Drumpf’s political rallies have escalated to the point of, not just being compared to the Third Reich, but actually following a similar trajectory.
So, I share Mr.Fowler’s words, as a pause for clarity to allow cooler heads to prevail. I still urge everyone to vote, but understand that after all the dust has settled on the campaigns, we still have to live with each other.
My advice is to read, believe in science and support teachers, and above all, be nice, or be quiet.
March 21, 2016 at 8:56 pm
my problem isn’t helping people, my problem is the government isn’t good stewards of tax payer money. They’ve proven this with SS and welfare. They take whatever they need, hand it to whomever will vote for them and basically tell the “rich” they better like it and bend over and take it again. If you disagree you are a racist a hole with no heart. Most reasonable conservatives don’t want to break up families of illegals, but can they be put into the system legally now? Can they pay taxes? Can we watch or screen who we let into this country a little closer? Can we make sure those on SS actually paid into the system and those withdrawing aren’t using a SS # from someone who died 12 years ago? If we regulate guns, can we do a little more diligence to avoid the bad guys from getting them? If you say “yes” then I’m on board. But if you say “there’s no way to pull that due dillegence off” then there is the issue.
March 21, 2016 at 11:22 pm
CFL,,
“They’ve proven this with SS and welfare. They take whatever they need, hand it to whomever will vote for them and basically tell the “rich” they better like it and bend over and take it again.”
Nonsense. on both SS and welfare. For both of them the rates of cheating are below 2%. Your information is wrong. As far as “the rich” bending over, you have that wrong as well. The rich pay less taxes than their secretaries as Warren Buffett the second richst man in the world has pointed out. You seem to be the kind of voter who finds Donald Trump fascinating, which I find just downright ill-informed.
March 22, 2016 at 5:16 am
you have proven my exact point- if you ask a question or ask for some reasonable measures to be put in place – you are labeled as an a hole and now you’ve even went as far as thrown my opinions in the Trump camp. Ridiculous. With liberals it’s your way or you are labeled a horrible person. Do a little research on how LBJ turned SS into a petty cash fund for the government. I’ve read welfare fraud is as high as 9% and saw plenty of people using food stamps for non essential crap all the time when I lived in the hood. Stuff I couldn’t afford but they’d waltz in and throw a card down and waltz out with a $400 grocery bill of junk food. Or selling their cards for cash outside of the grocery store. I’m not saying don’t have these systems, they are needed, but but the government needs to do a much better job for the people.
March 22, 2016 at 9:09 am
“I’ve read welfare fraud is as high as 9% and saw plenty of people using food stamps for non essential crap all the time when I lived in the hood.”
Cfl,
I worked for the Department in NYC that handled welfare for 32 years. I retired as it’s Deputy Director for Program and Fiscal Integrity, so you’re dealing with somebody who was an expert on Welfare Fraud. Not someone that you can’t name that you may have read sometime.
As for you I believe that you’re merely another anonymous troll, because you can’t even get your alias straight. Which is it CDL, or CDL, or some other combination of 3 letters that you alternate when you post your stuff in search of being a provocateur.
Your first comment above was a classic case of trollery. You set up a false proposition to protect your feeble arguments: “If you disagree you are a racist a hole with no heart.” No, I disagreed with you because you were blowing smoke out of your behind and too cowardly to even more than halfheartedly defend your incorrect pre-judgments, by using that phrase to absolve you from defending your position. Quite frankly you’re a bore and I’ve wasted too much time on you.
March 22, 2016 at 10:43 am
There it is! I pose reasonable questions, true examples from my own life and what I’ve read and because I don’t agree with you, I’m a troll. Hilarious. Im not even arguing against programs like welfare or SS, I’m simply asking for the government to be better stewards of our money and our safety, how ridiculous of me. Having a conversation with a liberal is like beating your head against a wall.
March 22, 2016 at 8:05 pm
Cdl, I’m sorry, but you are a right wing troll. You said ““I’ve read welfare fraud is as high as 9% and saw plenty of people using food stamps for non essential crap all the time when I lived in the hood.”
Yeah, well Trump said he “heard the Unemployment rate was as high as 42%. Facts say it is 4.9%
http://www.factcheck.org/2016/02/trump-wildly-inflates-unemployment/
If you’re going to say something bold, artifactual, or ludicrous, then sate your source. Fox news doesn’t count. In fact, if anyone is getting their “news” from Fox, then they are to be pitied. Faux will not even call trump on his measly 10% factual statements.
True3 (3%)(3)
Mostly True7 (6%)(7)
Half True17 (15%)(17)
Mostly False19 (17%)(19)
False48 (42%)(48)
Pants on Fire21 (18%)(21)
So for anyone reading this masterful and FACTUAL blog, is a Faux viewer (not a legitimate news source), or has “heard of”, or “read somewhere that..” and cannot link to the original source, please do the country and stfu. You’re merely trying to justify your own fears and hate, and are part of the problems of this country.
Please just go to your room of bitterness and vile, and let the adults talk now.
Enough is enough.
March 22, 2016 at 8:19 pm
WOW. 9% according to this : http://federalsafetynet.com/welfare-fraud.html
I’m sure you’ll say it’s not a valid source. So predictable. Even more predictable – I’m a jerk off, right wing faux news lover bc I mention a story I’ve seen many times at the Jewel grocery store on Montrose. Look it up, it’s in Chicago and it’s a rough part of town. Saw guys selling their LINK cards for a lower price for cash. But I assume they were using the money to start a 401k. Your name calling for someone who asks a question is as intolerable as Trump. Seriously, you’ve got a lot in common with that guy based on your spewing of hate. BTW – lots of lovely, deserving people need and should have access to aid. My original point was, our government fails tax payers everyday.
March 22, 2016 at 9:08 pm
Okay, I now get the opportunity to apologize for name calling and inflammatory speech. Please accept my apology. Name calling is never conducive to productive dialog.
We hear so many statements and accusations from the right about welfare fraud being the worst waste of taxpayer dollars. This rhetoric is intended to inflame the followers of sources like Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, O’Reilly, Kelly, McConnell, Bohner, and others as a misdirection of the facts. It goes back to the Reagan era “Welfare Queens in Cadillacs”…..that didn’t exist. And sadly, at that time in my life I bought in to it hook, line, and sinker. Ever since then the right wing has been using media obfuscation of the facts as a very affective tool to stir up those who want to blame others for their own difficulties, usually difficulties caused by right wing policies to begin with.
And now the right wing has their own media source (Faux News) who have been called out for broadcasting lie after lie, and those who are inclined to want to be justified in their beliefs eat it all up. Its on tv, it must be true.
Now I have unfortunately, or fortunately been on assistance, and know the rules and qualifications all too well. I am positive that there will always be those who take advantage of any kind of social programs, I don’t think there is a way around it. But the system in place is pretty darn good at this point.
Also, whenever Faux or others broadcast about fraud of any kind, or any segment about welfare, the accompanying video clips or photos are of people of color. Current SNAP statistics state that whites make up 40.2%, whereas people of color are only 25.7%.
So the original rant is in response of a growing frustration of those who are aware of the realities of American life, as opposed to those who want to be spoon fed what to believe.
I do not know you, and am not attempting to place you in any category. I do hold on to the conviction that anyone who views Faux news or the others mentioned above, have no footing on which to debate politics and policies.
March 22, 2016 at 9:32 pm
Those are all fair points. My original point was not just about welfare. It was more a general response to the original rant. I’ve never been on assistance, but I’m fine and happy for my contributed tax dollars to contribute to it. Bad shit happens to hard working, undeserving people daily. Along with contributing to SS. I’m fine with immigrants, I’m fine with helping refugees. My issue is how the government may, but probably doesn’t, do enough due diligence ensuring they are good and fair advocates of all of our money. That they are good and fair about who gets into this country, what benefits they can draw from. If you are in this country and commit a crime, you should probably get thrown back. If you don’t pay into the minimum SS amount of quarters you shouldn’t be able to draw on it. If we let in refugees can we make sure these people are vetted? I’m not convinced this happens. I’m convinced politicians promise a bunch of stuff to get votes, then they don’t care after Election Day.
March 22, 2016 at 9:52 pm
I was reminded of a definition of Faux “News”: Fox pays rich people to convince middle class people that poor people are the source of all their problems. John Fuglesang
I do know that the vetting process that has been in effect for quite awhile is pretty rigorous. It takes about 2 years for Syrian refugees.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/nov/15/jeb-bush/jeb-bush-it-takes-almost-year-refugee-be-processed/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/11/20/infographic-screening-process-refugee-entry-united-states
Also, undocumented workers here do pay taxes out of their payroll, unless they collect cash. Either way, they get no access to healthcare. http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2013/jul/09/chain-email/illegal-immigrants-are-covered-under-health-care-l/
If undocumented people commit crimes, they are extradited. Even green card holders will be deported after sentencing. http://immigration.lawyers.com/deportation/non-citizens-who-commit-crimes.html
Your issues are absolutely valid, and the answers are easily discovered. Unfortunately these issues are used as political fodder by the right to incite people to maintain an “Us vs Them” society. The mainstream media, or Lamestream Media as half term governor Palin calls them are absolutely in collusion for not calling out misinformation and lies. Why should they? They are owned by corporations whose bottom line goal is the bottom line advertising dollar. “If it bleeds, it leads”, truth be damned.
March 23, 2016 at 1:26 am
You are a freaking genius! Let’s just clone you. Seriously! Will read more of your writing soon.
March 27, 2016 at 11:10 pm
This person is not aware of the real world. NUT’S
March 30, 2016 at 5:03 am
Humor! I love an intellectual smart ass! Particularly an opinionated, condescending, kind-of conservative-bleeding liberal (I’ll bet you often find yourself debating yourself just to prove your right…and the other one wrong…one way or the other, dammit!)
Don’t know you dude, but I’d like to have a beer with you sometime. Maybe discuss the virtues of the Poor, American, deerskin-pants wearing Christian Racists who own guns but can’t clean or shoot them because they’re illiterate and can’t read instructions so they sit around watching Fox News to get their opinions and education, only to hear things like Rush Limbaugh’s charm and Glenn Becks half-wit will get the Mexican-American-Muslims who are ruining the Country Buffett and are undoubtedly the sole cause of both global swarming and the rise of the Fed-Rep Democracy to build the wall for a bucket of chicken…give or take a verbal-fascist burrito or two and with only 4 or 5 of the Colonel’s secret herbs and spices. However, it will be mistakenly built to separate the East from the West…in Germany!
Damned Google Maps!
The good news is that they also put in a new “local” coffeehouse to keep the Starbucks out…it’s called Checkpoint Charlie’s Communist Cup & Swastika Haus, and it’s run by the Coffee Cake Nazi.
Ranting, venting, expressing your voice, whatever you want to call it. Please don’t be scared to pull your balls out for display once in a while. If your smart enough to read blogs like this, your smart enough to put together some dialog on how your feeeling…before you know it, it’s a bona fide opinion and your voice is can be heard. I’m sure everybody knows a freind or two that likes to post those politically charged opinion pieces, those kind I casually skim on by and chuckle at on the daily (you know, the SERIOUS, POLITICAL-KNOW-IT-ALLS that feel the need to inform YOU on YOUR opinion…and completely without humor…no joke!)
…Jesus Cash in a laundry basket!
I need a Starbucks Iced-propaganda triple-xenophobia extra-common-core Mocha…hold the Americano Oligarchy.
…dropping gay bible science in the wrong neighborhood…all in the name of the Second Appendage of the USS Contribution!
P.S. And isn’t ISIS just a female superhero that’s related to Shazam…or was that Shaft?
…now this sad-pissed, off-crazy gunless-gunlover of a family-wrecker is going to a gun range to learn how to use my damned DVR…and maybe then I can put my Axe in the freezer!
March 30, 2016 at 7:21 am
Bravo! This is my favorite reader post on my blog ever. You have a gift, my friend.
April 1, 2016 at 7:48 pm
What?!? That’s the most ridiculous response, even without all the misspellings.
It’s like someone responding to a statement like: “I like walking barefoot in the grass”, with a response of: “Well, why don’t you go walk barefoot in gravel?! Oh, but don’t go skateboarding or they won’t let you in the Mall. You obviously aren’t a Florshiem’s supporter.
It may be better for you to not drink while you’re typing, or better yet stay off the keyboard and go back you your pablum of Faux “News”
April 2, 2016 at 2:02 pm
I mostly agree. However, I do believe ISIS is a threat. We didn’t believe Bin Laden was in the 90’s, then we had 9/11. We didn’t think Hitler and Mussolini or Hirohito were either and we know where that got us. ISIS is already sponsoring attacks in Europe. They are coming soon to a town near you. You shouldn’t be so comfy. Our military may scare you, but we couldn’t win a conflict like WW2 right now. Remember what folks did then to support the war effort? Read up! Ghost Wars by Steve Coll is a good start for Afghanistan and the Middle East and there are hundreds of WW2 films, books, and college courses.
Now on to Christianity. Christians are under attack. Ask the Little Sisters of the Poor. And if you don’t like Catholics, ask Hobby Lobby. If you are forced to conform to another’s beliefs, then you are under attack. So, go out and gain some more life experiences. Maybe seek out those who live in the gutter that you seem to favor so much and ask some soldiers what is really happening to our military. Maybe ask some other Christians if they feel they are attacked. If you don’t then you are foolishly happy and content. Don’t worry, I’m sure bad things only happen to the guy down the street! Peace and Love!
April 2, 2016 at 3:55 pm
I said ISIS is not an EXISTENTIAL threat to the US. And they are not. Sure they can blow stuff up, but they do not threaten the United States in any significant way. A WWII-styled war will never happen again. Nuclear weapons and precision-guided munitions have changed warfare forever. The Iraq War will be the last large-scale ground campaign of it’s kind. We’ve learned (finally) that those kinds of massive campaigns are not necessary to accomplish our goal of regime change or subjugation of a population. As for my perspective on persecution of Christians…words matter. The word ‘persecution’ has an actual definition and the treatment that some Christians perceive here in the United States does not in any way even come close to meeting that definition. I have traveled to some of the most desperately poor places on earth (Mexico City, the favelas in Rio, the Amazon River, Haiti, etc.) and have witnessed with my own eyes what real persecution of Christians looks like. It is an affront to all those who are genuinely suffering for their faith to call the minor inconveniences or limitations on our “rights” persecution. Perhaps you should put down the history books and get out in the real world and gain a genuine perspective. You might see things differently.
April 2, 2016 at 4:19 pm
Really? I do live in the real world. The gutter is my workplace. Reality is my home. You are right in one sense about warfare – it will be different. How many civilians must die before ISIS is a threat to you? How about San Bernadino? The idealology of ISIS requires no borders or military to be a threat. The nuns of the Little Sisters of the Poor are waging a legal battle that drives to the essence of their beliefs. They cannot provide for or be complicit in the provision of birth control or abortifacients. However, the government is attempting to force it upon them. Are they being shot for being Catholic, no. That is happening in Iraq. Heck, for that matter, other Christians, Jews, muslims, atheists, homosexuals, and anyone else who is different is being murdered by these radicals. But, I digress. Let me bring it back to religious persecution in the United States. The Little Sisters of the Poor can no more commit murder than be complicit in grave sin. To be complicit in providing for coverage for abortion or birth control is a mortal sin. It deprives of sanctifying grace. The act’s sinfulness requires reconciliation. So, yes there is persecution of religion in the US. Sure, we are mostly fat and happy, but some of us are persecuted for our beliefs. Just as racism exists, so does religious persecution. Incidentally, are you presuming to know my thoughts on how to proceed toward greater peace? Or do you presume to know them based on my views on two subject areas in your rant?
April 2, 2016 at 10:21 pm
Actually we gig know about Bin Laden in the 90’s. The Clinton Admin turned over stacks of documents to the Bush Admin with the admonishment that dealing with Bin Laden will be their top priority (since Clinton also turned over billions in budget surplus) The new thought they were so much smarter, they didn’t even process the docs.
Even during one of Bush’s many vacations, he received warning of “Bin Laden likely to attack” the report also mentioned using planes as weapons.
So, the government does have so much more info than we the people have access to. Mostly threats of terrorism are allowed to keep the public afraid. The idiotic security at airports is mostly for show and to create fear. Simply having trained dogs through a fast moving security line would be sufficient, but that doesn’t create enough fear.
April 11, 2016 at 9:46 am
Absolutely fantastic article! Just enough honesty, humor and intelligence needed. Thank you!
April 14, 2016 at 1:27 pm
Step away from the pipe.