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So, on Sunday, who was with me, glued to the TV as celebrities (perhaps only in their own mind) rushed around, currying favours, doing their best to ensure that their team won… and finally crowded before the big man with the gavel and spewed out drivel, trying to convince us of their sincerity?
Did you think I was talking about Celebrity Apprentice? Oh, no, the celebrities on that show are far too concerned about their image well-behaved to give me the sort of entertainment I’m seeking. I’m talking about being glued to CNN and watching Republicans battle Democrats in a last-ditch effort to save America from communism and socialism.
I live in Canada (yes that evil hotbed of socialized medicine) and I have one thing to say to our American friends. Welcome to the dark side! I assure you that over time, you will see some changes in yourself and your behaviour but don’t be alarmed – this is natural. You may develop a massive inferiority complex or use the word “eh” at the end of our sentences. You might become more polite and crave pictures of the Royal Family to grace your walls. And if you’re getting a newspaper out of one of those roadside boxes and you see a friend wants one too, you will close up the box, put in the correct change and buy one for your friend, rather than just helping yourself. All normal, I assure you.
On a more serious note, a bunch of bloggers went to Kenya recently on a business trip with Compassion International and each told heart-breaking, yet hopeful stories of children living in horrible poverty, being able to go to school and care for their communities thanks to generous citizens around the world. I was moved by their stories and pictures – I sponsor a 6 year old girl in Peru and she may be the closest I come to having a daughter. However, one of those bloggers has an online discussion community and I was shocked and saddened by what I read there Sunday night and Monday morning. These people (most are women but I won’t say they are ALL women) were so happy a few weeks ago that they could sponsor children in Kenya – there was even some sort of contest where the blogger was keeping track of how many sponsorships she herself was responsible for. These are the same people who spoke out (quite strongly I might add) about the Health Care Reform Bill and how evil it is. Don’t believe me? Check out this and this.
All I have to say is: Taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized society. And I happen to believe that we are only doing as well (morally, ethically, spiritually) as the least among us.
Because of my complete and utter obsession adoration for all things “The West Wing”, let me add this:
Sam: Henry, last fall, every time your boss got on the stump and said, "It's time for the rich to pay their fair share," I hid under a couch and changed my name. I left Gage Whitney making $400,000 a year. Which means I paid twenty-seven times the national average in income tax. I paid my fair share. And the fair share of twenty-six other people. And I'm happy to 'cause that's the only way it's gonna work. And it's in my best interest that everybody be able to go to schools and drive on roads. But I don't get twenty-seven votes on Election Day. The fire department doesn't come to my house twenty-seven times faster, and the water doesn't come out of my faucet twenty-seven times hotter. The top one percent of wage earners in this country pay for twenty-two percent of this country. Let's not call them names while they're doing it is all I'm saying.
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