When Progress Becomes Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a holiday celebrated in the United States on whatever Monday exists between the dates of January 15th and 21st. This year’s holiday is special because Mr. King was actually born on this day in 1929: he would be 89 years old today, which is the same age at which B.B. King icon-external-link-12x12 icon-search-12x12 died in 2015. In other words, B.B. King died less than three years ago and is older than M.L.K.—the dude could still be alive if he hadn’t been assassinated.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day always falls on a Monday because the federal government has it classified as a paid-time-off holiday. This means that if you don’t have a shitty job then you get a three day weekend shortly after Christmas break without having to burn any vacation time (sweet!). If you’re one of the poor individuals who actually have to work on this day, and there are still many, then that basically means that your employer still believes in slavery. This is a loose interpretation, of course, but it is not inaccurate.

It’s very peculiar how some national holidays are celebrated in America, particularly this one. For me, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an opportunity for everyone to take 24 hours to reflect on how totally fucked up this country was for so long, and also recognize how fucked up it still is. Sadly, many fair-minded white people regard slavery as something that existed about a million years ago, and have a general sentiment along the lines of “it sure is great that we got past that.” Meanwhile, when these same people get an extra day off, most do whatever it is that the average white person does in his or her leisure: go camping, barbecue, watch Friends reruns, etc.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is essentially Black Persons’ Day (again, another loose interpretation, but not inaccurate). As such, it would be more appropriate if black people took the day off and white people had to cover their shifts, at least until the gravity of the day set in a bit more with the general populace. Unfortunately, as supposedly great as America is, it’s not mature enough to institute something like this without some serious shit going down. As a perfect example, simply look at all the dialogue that has been generated recently due to the increased focus on hate groups in America.

It’s safe to say that a larger percentage of the black population had to work today than the white population, which is quite unacceptable.

Veteran’s Day is another national holiday that is totally messed up. For non-veterans, it’s just another day off… another day to have fun, and postpone or dodge responsibilities, or whatever. The idea of a veteran having to work on Veteran’s Day is rather profound, and this has happened countless times to countless veterans over the decades. (What’s even more profound is a black veteran having to work on both Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Veteran’s Day!) Some states have fixed this: they require that employers allow veterans to take a paid day off. Also, apparently an employer can choose to give a veteran the day off and pay them, but not extend that same courtesy to other non-veteran employees. Still, this is woefully inadequate. Veterans should have Veteran’s Day off. 1 + 1 = 2… this is not a complicated idea.

As for me, what did I do on Mr. King’s 89th birthday? I slept in till 10:00am, watched some cartoons, went to the gym, made a really awesome mushroom omelet, and wrote this fucking blog post, bitches.

Trickling Down

Dear California,

South Jefferson would like its water back. Please consider investing a significant portion of the extra money you will be making through increased car registration costs and recreational marijuana sales in safe and scalable desalinization technologies and infrastructure.

Sincerely,
Chad

P.S. Taxes suck.

Commander Bulletfoot and the Thrill-Kill Brigade

If I were to run for president, my campaign slogan would be: “The United States of America—never before in history has so little been done with so much. Let’s fix that!”

It doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as I would like, and has at least one grammatical issue, yet for some reason I can’t imagine a more appropriate way to phrase it.

Were I somehow elected, my cabinet would be composed of fiscal tight-asses and proponents of small but effective government. The primary campaign promise would be to decommission the role of the president in its current form and replace it with three presidential-type roles. These new government officials would offer much more flexible public representation in the executive branch: like the senate, they would be elected every two years for six-year terms. Only two of the three sitting officials could ever be re-elected—if two were in the middle of their re-election terms and the third’s term was about to finish, he or she would not be eligible for re-election. These officials could be re-elected only one time, and those who were excluded from the re-election process would be allowed to run again in the future with a renewed opportunity for two consecutive terms.

Significant funding would be spent on schools and public services to ensure that at least 80% of Americans are highly literate. (Apparently in 2013, nineteen percent of high school graduates couldn’t read icon-external-link-12x12 .) First class citizens would be allowed to vote after passing a voting license exam, which would be similar in function to a driver’s license exam: it protects the public from reckless endangerment; in this case, the rampant uninformed decision-making that occurs during presidential elections. Second class citizens—those who are actively receiving most forms of welfare and/or those who do not have a voter’s license—would receive free access to remedial classes at high schools and community colleges.

UC Berkeley and many other bloated and inefficient public higher-education institutions would transition into private universities. All recovered funds would go toward the expansion of community college systems across the country, and allow for the proliferation of free educational services to those in need.

I would direct the FDA to create a “Healthy Foods” certification, not unlike the certifications or labelings for organic and non-GMO foods. Only nutritious foods would be eligible for purchase with food stamps or whatever the hell they call the program these days. People with self-inflicted health problems would not be eligible for government health insurance; instead, they would be required to come up with their own solutions for medical care and treatment, or go without.

Major League Baseball would lose its antitrust exemption icon-external-link-12x12 and professional baseball (and other professional sports) would be greatly expanded. Funding for parks and recreation would be temporarily increased to facilitate the country’s new emphasis on local private and community sports programs.

Costs for concealed weapons permits and arms for women would be paid for by federal funds, if not already paid for by state funds. States that did not already have such accommodations in place would be pressured to adopt them. Semi-automatic weapons would only be allowed to those who had clean records and carried permits that were kept up to date—all others would be forced to surrender such devices.

My press secretary would be a stand-up comedian with a cadre of the finest writers in the entertainment industry. His reports (or monologues) would help smooth over all the unpopular news that would be delivered on a nearly daily basis. Most people would be totally pissed every day of the four years I would be in office, even though the country would be strengthening and people’s quality of life would significantly and genuinely improve.

Finally, and most importantly, the assholes who created and host the The Voice, along with anyone else involved in equally offensive musical/artistic calamities, would be stripped of their American citizenship and deported to whatever third-world country they find to be the most objectionable. Before deportation, each person would have a month-long stay at GTMO where I would personally waterboard them as a necessary form of catharsis and stress-relief. (A round of golf couldn’t possibly be enough to take the edge off of having the heinous gig of being POTUS.)

Give Me Lattes, Or Give Me Death

It’s a viciously cold day in Transexual Transylvania when a gay man, resolute in his conservative viewpoints, can’t speak at a university icon-external-link-12x12 in the Bay Area without the yuppie elite declaring war. These events occurred in Berkeley of all places: home of the Free Speech Movement and eastern province of the homosexual capital of the universe.

Seriously, there are more gay people in the Bay Area than there are grains of sand in the Sahara (believe me, I know… I lived in San Francisco for four years and didn’t get laid once). How is something like this even possible?