Battered Wife Nation

Calhoun's Cannons for January 8, 2010

People had ambitions to live in security and democracy, but those who came to power proved they were not worthy of the responsibilities.
Ghaith Saadi, Baghdad store owner

It’s getting really hard to even begin to find the words needed to describe the absolute contempt and disgust I feel watching so many of our hypocritical Corporate Pimps in Congress while they pretend to “work” on solving the health care “reform” issue. But just before my disgust shades off into absolute loathing, I have to remind myself that America elected these people and, more importantly, re-elected them. After all, if the voters had wanted real change, change that actually was change, they had a clear chance to do that in the last election by voting in a veto-proof, lobby-proof progressive majority . . . . and they refused.

So we ended up with our same old elected Corporate Pimps bitch slapping us around, selling us out and instead of rising up in righteous wrath and rage and smacking them upside the head with a chair leg, all we hear are the whimpers of The Abused Woman.

After over twenty years of falling for clever Grover Norquistian lies and manipulation and magical thinking, we have finally become a nation that believes that we deserve only the second-rate. Like all abusers, our Corporate Politico Pimps have isolated each from each, set one against the other via the ginned-up phony culture/class wars, stripped away any safety nets that might help us create financial independence for ourselves, off-shored good paying jobs, broke the unions, funneled the nation’s wealth up to the favored few until here we are: Battered Woman Nation, cowering in our isolated corners, convinced that we simply don’t deserve anything better for ourselves.

And while we’re out on the mean streets, our Congressional pimps are busy living the high life, receiving the best and finest of everything: great paying jobs that cycle from the halls of Congress right into highly lucrative work as lobbyists for their former corporate masters who then return to those hallowed halls to write legislation benefiting their new employers. It’s a perfect, well paid circle jerk. And while they’re busy selling the American people into the hands of the for-profit health care industry, for example, where profits not “health” rule, they get top of the line health care for themselves, while forcing the American people to buy a limited selection of overpriced, profit-driven crappy health policies, because that’s all they think we deserve.

Not only that, while the battered taxpayers are strapped for cash, losing their jobs, losing their homes, our Congressional pimps have taken our tax money and are back gambling on Wall Street, making sure that the guard dogs are all leashed so there’ll be no threat to the ongoing reckless partying that nearly brought down the world economy in the first place. It’s Pimp Time redux, at Goldman Sachs! ParTAY! ParTAY! all paid for by their tax-paying stable of “Ladies”-- us: Battered Woman America.

So there we sit, boo-hooing into our beers, nursing another black eye, and whining, “Other civilized nations have figured out how to get themselves decent, lower cost universal health care, why can’t we? Other civilized countries have safety nets for their citizens and watchdogs to keep their corporate and financial thieves in check. Why can’t we have that, too? Where’s MY pudding?”

Oh, well, sorry, Sweetie, no pudding for America. We have decided we don’t deserve it. For us, second rate is good enough since it’s our job to just shut up and make sure the money’s there to support the System we have created and continue to support, a system that guarantees continued trickle-up wealth for our corporate masters and their congressional pimps, and guarantees trickle-down poverty for the rest of us.

It’s a hard job, but I know we’re up for it. So, wipe your noses, Ladies. And put some make-up on that black eye. You look like hell. It’s time to hit the streets again. Uncle Daddy and his cronies need a new pair of shoes.