Bunch of Savages in This Town!

Of course, Dante meant this as it referred to the gum jammed in his Quick Stop lock, but hasn't it really become applicable to almost everything? Our government is so irresponsible with money that on all levels, enforcement of petty laws, skyrocketing fines and an increase in the cost of everything is running rampant to cover shortfalls in funds. Years of federal bickering have crescendoed into a partisan stalemate that has all the politicians pointing fingers instead of lifting any to actually solve problems. Sure, we're all different and have different visions of what our country is supposed to look like, but have our elected officials really solved anything with years of finger pointing and media mud slinging?

I watched the 10 o'clock news the other night (I know, a big mistake, right?) and was shocked at some of the headlines. An elementary school in Oakland was broken into and 40 brand new laptops were stolen. From children. In an already economically depressed community. I know the recession has to play a factor in here, but when did things become so desperate that stealing from youth in your own community was the answer?

Then, you have Bill O'Reilly, king of all things deaf, dumb, white and blind, spouting off at Gavin Newsom about panhandling in San Francisco. He was ranting about how he went from his hotel down the street and was "accosted by seven different men." I'm not sure what street he was on, but regardless of the merits of his claim, the entire Republican population now believes it about our city. Of course, Newsom had some shmancy stats of his own to chuck back at O'Reilly about the decrease in homelessness during his run as mayor, yada yada yada.

The problem here isn't that there's panhandlers in San Francisco. The problem isn't that we can't trust a word Newsom or O'Reilly says because they're just politicians trying to spin stats to their own advantage. The major problem here is that they're actually fighting about it rather than brainstorming any ideas that might actually work to cure the problem.

But hey, an earthquake in Haiti rallies politicians of all stripes, massive text message donation campaigns and a strong stand on "doing the right thing." Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we shouldn't help the people of Haiti, I'm just wondering why we can always agree on what we need to do to jump in and save or help people from other countries or cultures, yet we're content to scream about how the other guy doesn't want solutions when it comes to the problems facing the people within our own border. Is it that hard to do the right thing?

I'm gonna call this the "No Other Country's Children Left Behind Act" or possibly WSS - White Savior Syndrome...the need to feel like we are rescuing other countries from their disasters, their politicians, and in the end, because only America can know best what's best for others, from themselves.

One thing I know for sure...whether it be the abusive police, the partisan-sick politicians, the local thieves, the rappers glorifying drug dealing and murder or the white power base of our country convinced that we should save everyone else from themselves...there's a ton of savages in this town.