Wilding

In 1989, the term “wilding” was coined in reference to the notorious Central Park Jogger rape and assault case. The term has come to refer to assaults by a gang or group on strangers.

The United States House of Representatives is currently engaging in a wilding on the American people. House Republicans, many of whom identify with or are at least sympathetic to the political philosophy of the Tea Party, have recently passed a budget that defunds the Affordable Care Act and enacts severe cuts on the food stamp program and other social services. The budget has zero chance of being passed by the Senate and even if it didn’t, has a 100% chance of receiving a veto from President Obama when it reaches his desk.

This is the first salvo in a war between the President and the House and the American people are caught in the crossfire. The House Republicans have threatened to shut down the government, risking the faith and credit of our government, putting millions of people who receive paychecks and other payments from the government in a precarious position. Never mind that the Affordable Care Act has been ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court. Never mind that the act has passed both the House and the Senate and was signed by the President. Never mind that the act will provide health care for millions not currently receiving it. Never mind that polls indicate that the Affordable Care Act is actually something the majority of people want once what it does is explained to them. Never mind all that. These spoiled children aren’t getting what they want so they’re stomping their feet, screaming at the top of their lungs that they’re going to get what they want no matter what.

What they are doing is raping and assaulting the American people. What they are doing is putting their own political agenda ahead of the welfare and well-being of their own country. What they are doing is deplorable. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a political party threatening to hold an entire nation hostage in order to defeat a bill that has already enacted in the history of this country. What will be next? Refusing to pass a budget unless the Voting Rights Act is repealed?

There were some dismayed and outraged shouts when Will McAvoy, the fictional national news anchor on the HBO series The Newsroom called the Tea Party “the American Taliban.” What he was trying to convey is that they are extremists and that they will accept no other outcome but their own. There is no reasoning with extremists.

They have broken their faith with their own constituents which isn’t unusual among politicians but what is unusual is that they are so blatant about it. Sure, they’re pandering to the extreme right – that won them the House in 2010, but we are reaping the foul fruit from that harvest. We are seeing that what they are interested in is not the common man, not the average citizen but only in maximizing profits for the super-rich. They don’t care what the people of this country want or need as long as the money keeps pouring in to the coffers of their supporters.

This is unheard-of behavior. It goes beyond illogical and right out into insane. Who would shut down an entire government of one of the world superpowers over political ideology? The answer is a terrorist would. Al Qaeda would. The Taliban would. The Weather Underground would. The IRA would. They would be happy to see our country driven to its knees and the House is happily doing their job for them. They are terrorists pure and simple and President Obama shouldn’t (and to his credit, isn’t) negotiate with terrorists.

I wonder if the Patriot Act could be applied to those destroying our country from within. A part of me would like to see Jim Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor and their cronies all whisked away to Gitmo and water boarded for a good long time. Then the rational part of me remembers that this is not that kind of country. While I wouldn’t be surprised that a country run by the Tea Party would do those sorts of things, we’re supposed to take the high road.

So fantasies of inflicting misery and pain on these douchebags who are so willing to make so many suffer aside, we’ll just have to do it a different way and it’s the easiest way of all – vote for someone else. Send these turkeys and others like them the message in 2014 that their services or no longer needed or wanted. We’re looking for leaders, not dogmatic followers. We’re looking for politicians who serve their nation and their constituents, not those who hold the checkbook. Their wilding on America is over. Break up the gang. New York City eventually made Central Park safe for joggers – we can once again allow America to work the way it’s supposed to if we vote these assclowns out. Until then, things are going to get rough around here.