That's right, I give. There comes a point in any fight when you realize that to stay in it just means you're gonna lose more teeth. When it comes to politics in this country, the fight can be pretty bloody, but the social justice fight has a lot more on the line than some rich business mogul or lawyer getting their feelings hurt. There's real blood in this game, and the wounds can last generations. We've all been swinging and kicking in this fight for a while now, some of us for decades, but I just can't take the ass kicking anymore.
I've been a scrapper in this fight for the last five years. I've given time and money, canvased, volunteered, protested, wrote letters and blog posts, talked to everyone I know about these issues (even changed some minds here and there), and all of it has been in two of the reddest states in the nation. I've fought a good fight.
So now I sit and read all the blogs and watch what little news I can stomach, and I can't help but think that I'm just losing more teeth. Healthcare "reform" is either going to die a long slow death in the coming election year, or they'll pass some god-offal monstrosity, call it "reform", and only make things worse. We can all forget about seeing anything even resembling justice for the lawlessness of the last administration. Just expect more rendition, torture, illegal war, mercenaries, wire-tapping, etc. Wall Street will fuck us over again, bet on that. Job growth won't exist for at least another year or two (or three). And Democrats will continue to blame Republicans for it all, while allowing them to frame the debate and continuing to prop up corporate owned "centrists", calling them friends and colleagues. President Obama will have little to do with any of this. He'll make some fine speeches as he's known to do, but lasting change has always had to come from legislation not executive edict.
Oh sure, they'll pass a few bills with some small, incremental, measured, and ultimately ineffective changes to the status- quo. They'll all line up with big fake smiles at the signing to hail the victory and pretend that it's not a festering pile of shit sprinkled with glitter. Then they'll go cash their pay-off contribution checks, and really smile. You see, a guy like me can fight a good fight, but you have to box your weight if you want to be a contender, and let's face it, I'm not an investment banker or a billionaire CEO. I might as well write my letters to fucking Santa Clause, because if they don't come with a couple hundred grand attached to them, well, let's just say Capital Hill has a very large "round file" for all the mail from you and me.
I guess my point of this whole screed is that I've got better things to do than write letters to Santa and then bitch about not getting what I want. I've got a full time job, two great kids, a beautiful wife, an old but good house, and an empty bank account to worry about. My impending second job to supplement mine and my wife's incomes will take up what little spare time I have left. When you have two "good jobs" in the house and still barely pay the bills, it's time to start worrying about that instead of the fantasy that pressuring rich politicians is going to fix anything.
I'm sure there's plenty of you reading this that think I'm just being defeatist. So? I guess it is a bit defeatist to say uncle when you can't take the beating anymore. But let's be clear, I'm not calling for anyone else to give up, quite the contrary actually. I hope there are thousands more to take my place because they certainly aren't going to give us anything, we're going to have to take it. I'm also not saying this is a permanent feeling for me. I will probably join the fight again in the future, but not for a while. Not until I see some spark of integrity return to our government. Until then, those overstuffed, overpaid, and over-rated fuck heads in Congress can kiss my broke ass, cause I'm done. And don't worry, I'll still vote. That's my duty even if it's for the lesser evil, but I'm done scrapping for them cause with health care costs the way they are, I need to keep my teeth.