I Am Desperately-Fucking-Angry

I have a Sirius satellite radio in my car and one of the stations I listen to all the time is "Sirius Out Q" which is tailored to the LBGT community. No, I'm not gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, but the station has some damn good programming for a fag hag like me. One of my favorite shows is on from 6-10pm -- the Derek and Romaine show. Derek is a gay man, and yep -- you guessed it, Romaine is a lesbian. Their show is a general call-in type talkshow, but it's HILARIOUS. And once a week, they have callers call-in to tell them what they are desperately-fucking-angry about. So, here's my rant -- what I would want to talk about if I were to call Derek and Romaine.

For starters, I am royally pissed that the bailout for the automotive companies fell through last week.

I have avoided blogging about the auto bailout -- mainly because I think I am way to close to it. Husband works for Ford, and you all know this. And basically, in a nutshell, if he were to lose his job, my family is totally fucked. There goes the money to pay for our house, there goes our health insurance, there goes everything.

So as you can imagine, I was desperately-fucking-angry last week when the Senate decided to vote against the auto bailout. I was so pissed, that I earmarked the list of senators who voted against it, and have vowed to write them all a strongly worded letter. And the more I think about it, "pissed" is probably the wrong word. I think I was hurt more than anything. Hurt because I feel like the State of Michigan is going to Hell in a Handbasket -- and no one but the people in Michigan give a damn.

Has this country become so callous, so selfish, that when there is evidence that a state in our country is going down the shitter, that no one cares? When 9/11 happened -- did it happen to all of us, or to New Yorkers? When Katrina happened, did it happen to all of us, or those who lived in New Orleans? Personally, when those two things happened -- I donated money to the American Red Cross. I wanted to help and by making a donation to the Red Cross, I felt like I was contributing. I cared. And in the future, when I see people in this country suffering -- I will continue to care. And I understand there is a big difference between a natural disaster and a large company going broke. But the ramifications are still similar. It would be catastrophic for the State of Michigan and the country if any of the automotive companies goes bankrupt. The ripple effect would be astounding.

Everday I read comments posted on the internet, or hear people on the radio, or see them on the television, basically saying "Fuck 'em! Let the automotive companies go bankrupt!" Yeah, bankruptcy sure will give a hearty spanking to the executives of those companies for "mis-managing" those companies "all these years." Nevermind that by putting the screws to big business -- (as most of those that are against the bailout want to do) the one getting screwed the hardest are the families of the workers, and not the executives.

I'm also desperately-fucking-angry because I am tired of hearing about how "lazy" and "uneducated" and "unskilled" the auto workers are. I am married to one of the most hardworking men I've ever met. This is a man who never calls in sick to work (and when I say "never", I mean he receives the "Perfect Attendance" award every year, so I'm being literal, y'all) -- and he is never late. He leaves for work a hour before his official start time. He always works more than an 8-hour day (it's usually a 10-hour day and he doesn't take a lunchbreak). And he frequently goes into work for a few hours on the weekend. There's always something that needs to be done as far as he's concerned. I mean, his work ethic is HARDCORE. I've never seen anything like it before (except maybe in his dad -- which is where I know he inherited his work ethic. And his dad was a Ford employee working on the line for over 30 years.) So I don't want to hear about how all of the auto workers are lazy, or unskilled. And I certainly don't want to hear about how they do not deserve getting paid a decent wage, and receiving decent benefits. You try working in a industrial plant for 30+ years, at a job that is mentally numbing, in an enviornment that is not only dirty, but is cold in the winter and stiffling in the summer...only then will I think you know shit about who "deserves" what they make. Freaking Britney Spears is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. She is uneducated and unskilled (you know she is so don't even tell me she is "talented"). But you don't see Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) on TV griping about her and how she doesn't deserve her money, do you?

And I won't even get into all of the UAW bashing. This whole situation makes me sick.

I read a article written by Mitch Albom yesterday -- and I think this is what prompted me to write this blog post. The last line in his article says, "Honestly, what has become of this country?" -- and that's exactly how I feel. Read for yourself here.

Oh...and one more thing I'm desperately-fucking-angry about regarding this whole thing. The automotive companies now have to rely on President Bush to approve carving out a portion of the $700B approved earlier this year for them. To think that we have to beg President Bush for anything a month before he's leaving office is appalling. Especially considering his approval rating is so low, and he'll probably go down in history as one of our worst Presidents. I wouldn't be surprised if he flipped us all off on is way out of the White House and washed his hands of this whole thing. I wouldn't be surprised.