Merry Chrissmuss

Every year during this time, the United States goes a little insane.  Which is fine, a little insanity is good for our perception of ourselves.  We decorate our houses with lights, shop and eat voraciously, and generally do things that at any other time of the year would seem ludicrous, like being of good cheer and saying hello to friends we know.  But also at this time of year we get collectively miffed about this time of year.  The Christians get crazy about the birth of Christ, everyone other belief gets crazy about being excluded, and the government is sanctioning the day as a holiday while at the same time trying to keep nativity scenes off of public property.

I would suggest Chrissmuss.  A time of year where you can celebrate any way you want.  You can say "Merry Chrissmuss" and get away with it because it is phonetically the Christian holiday and yet has secular spelling.  We can all celebrate this time of year with friends and family and give gifts and make cookies in our own way.  Have a wonderful holiday season and get over ourselves for a few weeks before the voices of reality wake us. 

Why the government is corrupt

It is not difficult to explain why the government is without integrity, or why it has spent over 16 trillion dollars it doesn't have.  Elected officials have no negative reinforcement.  They are not culpable except in extreme individual cases.  No matter what occurs, they will still get their pay, pensions, benefits, and influence which they can exchange for further financial benefit.  There are no metrics on which their job or pay will hang in the balance.  90% will be re-elected.  They will be re-elected by people who are as singular in the desire to meet their own needs at the expense of the community as are the people they elect.  

Gun Control

The hysteria on both side of the Gun Control issue makes it almost impossible to have a meaningful dialog on the subject.  That is why I am here.  Guns are dangerous, so we should regulate them.  Cars are dangerous, so we should regulate them.  We don't do a very good job on either.  It is harder to get a gun than a car, but there are far too many irresponsible owners for both.  We should register users of guns, they should have a license and when they violate a gun law, their license will be revoked and their guns taken.  The current background check remain in place and in addition, a medical background to screen out psychos.  Commercial vehicles are more dangerous than passenger cars and you have to pass additional requirements to operate a commercial vehicle.  Assault rifles would also require more stringent requirements.

The bad guys will still be able to get guns.  That's good.  When you find an unlicensed bad guy with a gun you can arrest him.  There are a number of facets to the above that could effectively reduce the number of deaths by guns in this country.  But all things being political, i.e. nonsense, we will continue to struggle with the consequences of our ignorance.  

Doug Stanhope is Right

The above is right.  We could forget about any Gay marriage controversy by abolishing the government involvement in the practice.  When you like someone, you could commit to them in some farcical aquatic ceremony  and be done with it.  If you want that person to have half of whatever you make during the marriage, you can do it legally.  If you have children, the law still applies if you're the biological parent.  If you want your significant other to be covered by your medical at work, you work it out with your employer.  If you want that person to have right of attorney, to make decisions for you when you are incapacitated, you give them that right.  If you want that person to have survivor rights over all of your worldly possessions, make a will.

We don't need the government to roll all of  this stuff into a legal ball of crap so that lawyers can get rich pulling the stinking thing apart.  Forget about the sanctity of the family or any other romantic nonsense.  Maybe people would be more serious about committing to each other if they had to actually negotiate the terms of their bond instead of falling into it because that's what everybody does.  We have enough sheep already.