Rick Van Alfen: Undaunted in effort to educate

I shall remain undaunted in my efforts to educate the uneducated, to inform the uninformed, to enlighten the unenlightened, to spread the truth over the lies that taint our daily lives – 10,000 and counting. Relentless. I have to counter the daily deception deliberately doled out to the docile that seems to accept not just mediocrity, but downright incompetence.

Folks, if there were to be a real meeting about infrastructure policy in our nation between congressional leaders and the president, the following would have occurred. The president would call in numerous cabinet members... Transportation, Commerce, Interior, Treasury, scores of accountants and actuaries, lawyers, yadda-yadda. Ideas would be traded about, the amount of jobs created would be front page news, a sense of working across party lines would shine... and then the bottom line would surface... how to pay for the damn thing. Trump did none of that. He has no infrastructure plan. And surely no way to pay for it after ballooning the deficit to more than a $1 trillion with his tax cut for the corporations and the wealthy. Not one penny. So the con man walks in with no plan, throws a tantrum within three minutes, proceeds to the Rose Garden with prearranged signs made by Huckabee Sanders or some sycophant, and blames the Democrats for not doing anything.

As the old Coach on College Game Day on Saturday mornings would say, “Not so fast!” For you uninformed out there, the Democrats have passed more a 100 bills, many with bipartisan sponsorship (if you don’t know what that means, I can’t help you). Some of those bills deal with pre-existing conditions in health care, education and skill training for veterans, real gun legislation millions of our children are clamoring for, student loan debt... myriad items the American public wanted addressed. Yes, the Democrats can chew gum, walk at the same time, and do their constitutional duty of oversight and investigating this pathological liar and crook masquerading as a president.

And guess where all those bills are? Sitting on the desk of Senator Zilch. The self prescribed Grim Reaper, Mitch the Snitch. So here comes more education for those yearning for the truth. Who’s the real obstructionist party that thwarts progress in the country? The Republican Party, who else? McConnell obstructed Obama any time he could get away with it. The only thing the GOP did in two complete years of total control was to give away money to those who didn’t need it. And now he, and solely he, can bring a complete halt to what the House of Representatives have passed. Don’t forget this is the People’s House, directly elected to serve their communities-not some stodgy, archaic body that can allow 15-20 small states to dictate the entire future of 300 million Americans. Mitch McConnell has brought a halt to what the people wanted and voted for last November. He represents the great state of Kentucky. Why am I hearing banjos right now?

With a glimmer of hope, it does seem the educated judges in our court system may not allow our Democracy to fail. Subpoenas must be obeyed, and the rule of law can’t be spat upon. I can only hope. And on that note, due to recent, and incomprehensible news from some of our “enlightened states,” I’ll bring up something I did more than 10 years ago. Can someone, anyone, educate me as to how it’s OK for Uncle Billy to rape niece Sarah, during Thanksgiving, while the family is feasting on turkey, giblets and stuffing, upstairs in your own house and then after Uncle Billy is thrown in the slammer (maybe), that because Sarah is of child-bearing age, she must carry that seed to term. Sorry dudes. I’m not a Christian. But evidently many Christians think that’s OK. Come on, that isn’t even human!