Are you bitter yet?

Today's Wall Street Journal, admittedly no bastion of Liberal Thinking, informs me that, in the last eight years, the income of the top 1% of earners in this country has increased by 11%, while the income of the remaining 99% has increased by less that one percent. The article (which you should go read) also offers some helpful examples of how the incomes of many people have actually declined over this time period. Basically, what it comes down to is that the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and the middle class is going the way of the dinosaurs. And yet, I hear many people out there are still of a mind to support Huggy Bear as a candidate in the upcoming Presidential election, despite the fact that he supports Bush's insane tax cuts for that 1% who are, quite literally, making out like bandits, not to mention the occupation of Iraq, which is now estimated to cost THREE TRILLION DOLLARS, much of which is being gobbled up by Bush/Cheney corporate cronies like Halliburton and Blackwater. Putting aside the moral outrage of the whole thing, and looking at it sheerly from the perspective of how this might affect you and your personal finances, I have but one question for you, if you are one of these people:

ARE YOU COMPLETELY FUCKING INSANE?

I mean, do you hate Black and Brown people, and/or women, enough to sacrifice not only your financial security but that of your children and grandchildren, and probably their children and grandchildren? Again, I'm not even going to get into the other issues, I'm talking strictly about your ability to pay your mortgage, put gas in the tank and food on the table. Are you that stuck in an ideology or tied to an issue that you will sell yourself into serfdom rather than admit that maybe, just maybe, Republicans have been playing you for a fool to line their own pockets? Do you honestly believe that tax cuts for the rich must be preserved for that glorious day when you will become one of them? I've got news for you, Dear Reader: If you're not rich now, it's highly unlikely that you ever will be. You will not become one of the Privileged Few. You will never have a seat at the table with people like the Bushes and the Cheneys. Not now, and certainly not ever, if you continue to vote against your own interests and give free reign to those who would happily enslave you.

Recently, Presidential candidate Barack Obama was criticized for the following remarks:

"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Well, I would like someone to explain to me how, exactly, Senator Obama was wrong. For years, I've watched people who have lost their jobs, suffered due to lack of affordable health care, work longer and harder and for less money just to struggle to pay their bills, all due to Republican policies, continue to vote on contrived issues like gay marriage, immigration, and gun control. The Republicans have made gays and Brown People and Liberals into your "enemy" to distract you from the fact that THEY ARE THE ONES YOU SHOULD FEAR. Seriously, people, you need to wake the fuck up. Mexicans aren't taking your jobs, Republicans and their corporate whores are shipping them overseas. The Liberals aren't going to take your guns, and the homosexuals aren't going to force you to marry them; the Republicans just want you to think that so that you'll support policies that you know, deep down, are insane. Please, stop doing this.