If you are part of the exclusive minority who read my articles regularly, you may have noticed that nothing came out this past Saturday. Nothing, that is, except for my bottom lateral incisor.
I am sure most everyone can relate to how tragic a toothache can be. I consider myself fortunate and/or (maybe) blessed that I have a dear friend who helped to find me a dentist on a Saturday night to help deliver me from evil. Most people would have had to endure that for an entire weekend. Truthfully, I don’t even see how that could be possible–but it’s the truth.
And speaking of things that are difficult to reconcile as being part of reality, as of Thursday, the great state of Texas has single-handedly managed to pick $20,000 out of the pockets of millions of Americans–in one resounding chorus of southern fried “Bah humbug.”
That’s right, Judge Mark T Pittman, a Trump appointee, just “vacated” the entire student loan forgiveness decision.
Their timing, I must admit, is impeccable. What a fabulous holiday gift for Texas to bestow upon the rest of the country. How very GOP!
Regardless of what your political leanings are, I think we can all agree that the GOP’s main agenda is to, not so much improve the lives of their constituents, but make the lives of their political opponents as unhappy as possible. Oftentimes, it is a lot easier to deliver on spiteful legislation than it is to do something positive to actually improve the lives of your base.
And when it really comes down to it, that base is generally more impressed with knowing their side caused heartache for the other side than knowing that their side did anything to improve their lives. So these judges and political strategists knew what they were doing. They just got their ass handed to them on election day, so they had to do something to strike back.
As far as the moldy old argument “helping people who are struggling will surely raise our taxes”, let’s be realistic: as a country, our fear of how money is being budgeted is so random and arbitrary. Most of the people who are so “concerned” with fiscal responsibility when it comes to helping poor people, turn a blind eye toward subsidies and backroom deals where enormous amounts of money change hands between wealthy people.
And this whole attitude runs along the same line as people’s fascination with shows like “To Catch a Predator.” In other words, no matter how shitty someone’s life is, as long as they have someone in a worse place to look towards, they can feel a little better about themselves. Somehow, I imagine a lot of these people who are resentful about other people with student loans getting assistance, have likely enjoyed the benefits of bankruptcy protection after they max out their Capital One, their Dick’s Sporting Goods and their Walmart cards. And most likely for far more than $20,000.
Statistics will bear that out.
Look, I don’t know about you, but if I learned anything from 2016-2020, it’s that the facts do not mean a damn thing. All the progressive people did was post and tweet facts about how awful the Republican party was, and no one really cared. It was easy to see that facts were not going to sway anyone’s opinion. We reached a point, first as a country and then as an entire world, where “the truth” was no longer universally accepted or recognized. Everyone was allowed to pick whichever reality they preferred.
Didn’t like the idea of a fatal pandemic? That’s okay, just watch and disseminate YouTube videos about how it’s a deep state plot. Feeling too guilty about how brown skinned people are treated in this country? Just adopt a different narrative. No one says you have to accept the truth.
“George Floyd died from taking fentanyl.”
“Breonna Taylor shouldn’t have been dating a dealer.”
“Eric Garner was in poor physical health.”
All any of this really meant was that we had reached that sweet spot, as a country, where we could be truly awful to one another without the inconvenience of accountability. And really, does it even get any better than that?
I texted my ex to tell her the news yesterday and she replied with something like, “I can’t even really keep up anymore.” Unfortunately, that is where most Americans are these days. Who even cares anymore. One can be a lot healthier just existing within the parameters of what it is like to be in the great 99%— you are always going to be behind the eight ball, you are always going to be just a little short on your bills.
Now, let’s concentrate on something we can actually have an affect on. Those magical parts of our lives that the government doesn’t see or get to know about. Because when you really come down to it, that’s all we can ever truly say is our own.
Tooth pain is the worst! Glad you got it fixed . Although, I think I would prefer that over the state of the country, and the world. I can only handle small doses of news since 2016. It feels like we're living in the movie "They Live" and only a few of us have the damn glasses.
I didn’t know they took the forgiveness away. Honestly, I kinda felt that it wasn’t going to happen. I wanted it, but I knew someone was going to take it away. As I’m current paying for all three of my children’s college loans, I will just keep doing all that I can to pay the loans. As a mom, I have to do all that I can so when they are finished school, they have a shot at living a life without the weight of the debt. But boy that forgiveness would have helped me, help them, a little bit easier.