Tea Party: Just a Catchy Name for a Dangerous Organization

In 1773 when the original Tea Party occurred, the population of the thirteen original colonies was around 2.2 million souls, and that's not counting slaves (if they were being counted, it was only as 3/5 of a whole human being) or native Americans.  I'm not even sure if women were included in that head count, but let's say that they were just for grins.  Slaves were still being imported even though headway was being made to stop that odious offense to humanity.  Women were the chattel of their husbands and children had a tough row to hoe.  Life expectancy  in 1793 was 36.9 years.  If improvements are not made to our health care system, we could well see that lifespan average again.

And the original Tea Party was formed in protest because the colonies were not represented in the British Parliament.  There are no similaries between that Tea Party and the people who are part of the Tea Party movement now.  They simply hijacked the name and appear to be intent on electing  people to our government to slowly dismantle the progress that has been made in these United States over the past 200 years. 

The current Tea Party battles everything that helps our society as a whole: SSI, food stamps, and Medicare/Medicaid.  They say they want a balanced budget.  We HAD a balanced budget when President Clinton was in office.  To balance our budget, we should withdraw our troops from Afghanistan, Iraq and wherever else we are.  We cannot police the world.  And if we use our troops in other parts of the world, let's use them to bring aid to people rather than killing innocents and, yes, most are innocents, but we refer to them as "collateral damage."  Much tidier, don't you think?

The current Tea Party backs proposals that hurt the disenfranchised, the working poor, children, elderly, those who haven't gotten a break in life.  The only people that aren't being hurt are the rich and corporations.  It truly is all about money.  And, good grief, the number of times Tea Party members bring up Christianity or wear a cross on their lapels.  Really??  Is this what we, as a nation, have come to?

I'm reminded of that song by the Temptations, the first few lines of which goes:

"Smiling faces sometimes pretend to be your friend
Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don't tell the truth uh
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof
The truth is in the eyes
Cause the eyes don't lie"

Think of those leaders in the Tea Party movement -- those media saavy, photogenic talking heads.  Smiling faces.

OF GARDEN SPIDERS, BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND A SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Hanging out laundry this morning, I faced into a cool wind blowing from the north.  A cold front is moving in. Summer 2010 is truly over. The hummingbird feeders came down this morning; I always keep them up until the last moment just in case a straggler hums in from the north on its way south.  My husband is harvesting the last of the green peppers and butternut squash. The garden spider has even come down from her magnificent web on Summersgaze and is now crouching on the southeast side of a paint chipped Adirondack chair. Summer does come to an end.


The 1 minute piece posted above is composed of shots taken from 5:15 a.m. (feeding the cats time) to 8:15 a.m. today.

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This morning I heard an interesting piece on NPR.    It was about a company in Needham, Massachusetts -- Vita Needle Company -- that hires people over the age of 65 to work.  One woman who was interviewed is over 98 years old.  It's an excellent piece -- the link is here:  NPR story


This piece, however, inadvertently pointed out the need for a single payer health care system in the United States.  Caitrin Lynch is quoted as saying that in addition to appreciating flexible hours, senior citizens bring along their own health care -- Medicare -- so the company does not have to provide health care benefits.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all that companies had to worry about were creating  jobs for people, making a profit, and providing excellent retirement packages for their employees?  Under a single payer health care system, that could happen.  As it stands now, we are at the mercy of a health care insurance octopus with companies footing the health care expense burden when health care should be a benefit of being a citizen of the United States.  A life enhancement, if you will.


Single payer health care system.  That's the way to go. And, yes, it is that simple.

No Country for . . .

True story.  When the movie, "No Country for Old Men," came out, I thought it was a documentary about the health care system in this country.  Boy, was I surprised!