Clinging to Hope
By 
The window cling in front of me proclaimed I HATE EVERYTHING. I sat in traffic in front of the 49th St. Jail, waiting for the light to turn green. I wondered how it was possible to hate everything. I figured someone, somewhere, may have come close. But I doubted it was the shmuck in front of me enjoying his cigarette.
Have you seen the window decals of families? It’s usually a stick figure man, a stick figure woman, a stick figure child, and stick figure dogs or cats. I’ve also seen creative variations on the theme, (one woman with many cats, two men with a child and a dog, etc.)
The window decal I saw on a truck in a parking lot is the one I found the most alarming. It was a depiction of his family. (I’m assuming it was a guy.) I’m not terribly knowledgeable about such things, but it appeared to be a machine gun, a rifle, and a couple of pistols. (The kids) HAHAHAHAHA! Delightful!
Baby on Board signs are still out there, which surprises me, because they can be critiqued on so many levels philosophically. I should drive EXTRA careful around you instead of aiming for you like I usually do. All the variables along the highway will suddenly cooperate because you have a baby on board. Also, it’s a good advertisement for some sicko that’s in the business of selling babies.
This brings me to Rick Scott … not the babies part, the philosophically wrong on many levels part.
Rick Scott hates President Obama and anything that might remotely be linked to Obama. He probably knows the kind of toilet tissue the Obamas use and boycotts it. He also doesn’t like poor people very much. But people are good at that in this country. Let’s get to work! I got mine! Civilized countries across the pond are proud of their welfare and social programs. People here can’t even SAY welfare without throwing up in their mouths a little bit. Thank you Ronald Reagan.
A majority of Floridians voted yes on high speed rail in November, 2000. Our vote approved an amendment to Florida’s constitution mandating the state establish a system of high speed trains.
Boss Hogg Bush tried to repeal it in 2004. He likes to try to “do-over” votes, like smaller class sizes. He failed, but fickle Floridians decided later on it would be a good idea to repeal the high speed trains amendment anyway. Jeb has a window cling on his Lexus stating My Other Car is a Limo. And his other car really IS a Limo.
A really cool thing that could possibly jumpstart an almost dead economy was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Florida was eligible to receive 8 billion dollars, all told, of federal funding. We applied for the first 30 million in October of 2009. We were put on the list for the money. In December of 2009 the Florida legislature approved an amendment that would allow the Florida Department of Transportation to go ahead with the project.
But Rick didn’t want to take that nasty money from the Obama administration, (because it wasn’t Medicare money?) The Scottmeister said, “ Eeeeeeeeeeew! It has COOTIES, and prolly has strings attached too!” He decided he didn’t want to play and passed on the Federal funds. He essentially gave away 2.2 billion to other states who would use it for infrastructure, transportation, whatever. See? He really IS a generous guy!
If Donald Duck were a Republican and became the next President of the United States, Mr. Rick would suddenly be happy with any money from the government. Donald Duck would most certainly have an I HEART DAISY window cling.
Scott had an epiphany about Medicaid. When he ran for Governor in 2014 he promised that the Medicaid program would be expanded. Really. He suddenly decided that money was needed for an important program that affects eighteen percent of Floridians. And the numbers are growing as people who did not qualify for Medicaid before would now, under the Affordable Care Act. I’m guessing that’s how he won by such a narrow margin. He wasn’t acting all … like … Mr. Scroogy anymore. But he changed his mind after he was elected saying that there were things he hadn’t considered. He implied there might be something a little shady about the money. So he and his besties decided to take break for a while and pulled a Scarlett O’Hara, “I’ll think about that tomorrow.”
And so, we wait and see. It’s just like those window clings out there, we shake our heads and wonder what kind of a person thinks like that?
~written by Deborah Klein, Safety Harbor resident blogger
Gosh Paul, for a minute I felt like I used to feel when I was a kid and my Dad would scold me because I wasn’t acting like a “young lady.” But I got over it.
Are you familiar with political satire? It’s very common to create characterizations of people in public office and draw analogies of their policies. Have you ever read any of Sarah Palin’s stuff? George Will? Garrison Keillor? Jon Stewart called Glenn Beck’s view of the perfect community a “Marxist Utopia.” There is a blog called The Same Rowdy Crowd with plenty of the same. Brian Lambert calls gay prejudice “a sloshing bin of intractable cultural malignancies.” Remember the oft used “Tricky Dick”? Do you recall Mick Elliott’s blogs prior to the latest City Council election? Did you suggest he be censored as well? He was divisive as well. After all, he was not taking pot-shots at public figures; he was taking them at people who LIVE here.
At least I don’t use the F word, like I do when I talk. And I’m pretty sure my little blog is not going to keep the Jebster or Rickie awake at night. The blog is my opinion about lots of things … MY opinion. I don’t expect people to agree with me. I do strive to be provocative. I’m sorry you were insulted. But I’m angry that because I insulted you in some way, you feel I should be censored. I would hope that Jeff will not allow a few voices in the crowd to dictate policy for Safety Harbor Connect. I think it’s a good online read and I enjoy writing for it. I’m also flattered that he thinks I’m worth it. Safety Harbor is a wonderful place. Everyone I know in this town is an individual with definite opinions about their community and their world. They are all free-thinkers. Do you propose we live like the people in Pleasantville? Should we be Stepford Townies?
I’m all for free speech and providing a platform for diverse opinions to be heard, but IMO pieces like this only cause division and further hinder the political discourse in our community. If we want to be a community that brings together people of different perspectives and world views, we need to avoid things like name calling (e.g. “Boss Hogg Bush”) and attributing motives to people (e.g “Rick Scott hates President Obama… He also doesn’t like poor people very much.”)
Deborah, I hope you’ll keep this in mind if/when you write future articles for Safety Harbor Connect. Stay spunky and opinionated, but don’t squander your authority by stooping to these tactics.
And Jeff, I hope as editor, you’ll use your editorial authority to veto raise the bar on political discourse in our community. Thanks for listening to my 2 cents.