The hypocrisy hit me again the other day..

[brassmonkey]

[rant] As I was driving down the highway the other day at 70 MPH with my family in the car, a guy on a motorcycle passed us.. The guy was wearing shorts and a tee-shirt and doing over 75 MPH...

The oft-recurring thought came to me again about how our corrupt government extorts money out of us while blatantly lying to us about it. A cop in this great nation will pull you over and ticket you, causing your insurance rates to rise for the foreseeable future if you're in a 2-ton steel cage with airbags all around you and you're not wearing your seat belt, because that's "unsafe," they'll tell you.. But if you decide to sit atop a 100 horsepower steel horse and fly down the highway at 65 or 75 MPH, cops can't bother you because that behavior has been sanctioned by our government and is perfectly legal because, evidently, it's not as INSANE as riding in a steel cage with airbags all around you without your seat belt..

Of course this isn't to knock motorcycle riders, because I'm one, myself, but the lying and hypocrisy really pisses me off... They don't even require that you wear leathers.. You can wear shorts and flip-flops, and they can't do anything about it because it's apparently perfectly safe, unlike the lunacy of not wearing a seat belt in your car...

Can we say extortion?[/rant]

[homebase]

Nice rant - "buckle up it's the law" = from "peace officers" to a "police state".

There was a Pied Piper who said,
"We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change it!"
*And the people said, "Change is good!"

Then he said, "We are going to tax the rich fat-cats,".*And the people said "Sock it to them!"

"and redistribute their wealth."
*And the people said, "Show me the money!"

And then he said, "Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody"
*And Joe the plumber said, are you kidding me?"

And Joe's personal records were hacked and publicized.
*And one lone reporter asked, "Isn't that Marxist policy?"

And she was banished from the kingdom!
Then someone asked, "With no foreign relations experience, how will you deal with radical terrorists?"

And the Pied Piper said, "Simple. I'll sit down and talk with them and show them how nice we really are and they'll forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!"

Then the Pied Piper said, "I'll give 95% of you lower taxes."
*And one, lone voice said, "But 40% of us don't pay ANY taxes."

So the Pied Piper said, "Then I'll give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!"
*And the people said, "Show me the money!"

Then the Pied Piper said, "I'll tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!"
*And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed.

And he said, "I'll mandate employer- funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage."
*And the people said, "Gim'me some of that!"

Then he said, "I'll penalize employers who ship jobs overseas."
*And the people said, "Where's my rebate check?"

Then the Pied Piper actually said, "I'll bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!"
*And the people said, "Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don't care for that part about higher electric rates."

So the Pied Piper said, "Not to worry. If your rebate isn't enough to cover your expenses, we'll bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!" Then he said, "Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let's grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing."
*And the people said, "Ole`! Bravo!" And they made him King!

And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy slowed even further. Then the Pied Piper said, "I am the Messiah and I'm here to save you! We'll just print more money so everyone will have enough!" But our foreign trading partners said, "Wait a minute. Your dollar isn't worth what it was. You'll have to pay more."
*And the people said, "Wait a minute. That's not fair!"

And the world said, "Neither are these other, idiotic programs you've embraced. You've become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you'll play by ourrules!"
*And the people said, "What have we done?"

But it was too late.